The affiliates won two of out three on Memorial Day Monday. An extra-innings loss prevented the clean sweep. Dunedin's game in Daytona Beach was rained out.
Columbus 5 Buffalo 4 (12 Innings)
Buffalo, NY - The Bisons fought back from a 4-0 deficit but the Indians affiliate won this one three innings after regulation. Chad Jenkins (2-2) struck out two to strand a pair of runners in the 11th inning but a two-out double and a single turned out to be his downfall in the 12th. Chris Leroux went the first six innings and allowed four runs in the second. It was nearly five but Junior Lake started an inning-ending 9-4-2 putout at home. All of Leroux's runs were unearned after an error by Dalton Pompey in center field, who would leave the game after crashing into the outfield wall. Leroux gave up seven hits and had a 2-2 K/BB total. Seven of his 12 outs in play were on the diamond. Ben Rowen and Bo Schultz pitched two shutout innings of two-hit ball each with Schultz striking out two and Rowen whiffing one and walking one.
The Herd scored their first run in the third inning when Alexi Casilla doubled home a Tony Sanchez single but Casilla was thrown out going for a triple. Casilla doubled home another run in the fifth by cashing in a Casey Kotchman two-bagger and Domonic Brown followed with a two-run double that brought home Casilla and a walk by Andy Burns to tie it at 4-4. Brown was 3-for-6 on the day and Matt Dominguez had a pair of hits. Darrell Ceciliani had a base hit in five at-bats. Pompey walked but was picked off and caught stealing in his lone plate appearance.
New Hampshire 9 Reading 1
Manchester, NH - The Fisher Cats fell behind early against the Phillies affiliate but roared back with nine unanswered runs to win this one. The knockout punch came in a five-run second inning on RBI singles by Matt Dean, Ian Parmley and Jon Berti, an RBI double by Christian Lopes and a sacrifice fly by Jorge Flores. Lopes singled home two more runs in the sixth while Melky Mesa and Rowdy Tellez doubled home a run apiece in the seventh. Berti and Lopes accounted for nearly half of New Hampshire's 13 hits with three apiece with Lopes also stealing a base. Tellez and Parmley had two-hit games with Tellez taking one for the team. Ryan Lavarnway singled and walked twice. Roemon Fields walked and stole a base.
Casey Lawrence (2-3, 4.85) coughed up a run in the first but scattered seven hits and a walk over seven strong innings. He struck out three and got his infielders to handle 10 of his 13 outs in play. The relief was perfect with Colt Hynes striking out two of the four men he faced and Wil Browning whiffed the last of the two men he was assigned to get. Their outs in play were on the ground so the outfielders could have gone to the concession stands early.
Lansing 5 South Bend 4
South Bend, IN - The Lugnuts climbed back over the .500 mark by holding off the Cubs. Carl Wise saved a good time for his first Midwest League home run as he hit a two-run shot to cap off a three-run fifth inning. Back-to-back doubles by Ryan Hissey and Juan Kelly produced the first run in the fifth. Hissey and Kelly had a hand in the first two Lansing runs in the first. A Hissey double play grounder and a Kelly single scored Gunnar Heidt and Andrew Guillotte, who started the game with base hits. Hissey had two walks to reach base three times. Max Pentecost walked and singled. Wise also drew a free pass. Lane Thomas and Josh Almonte had the other base raps but Thomas whiffed in his other three at-bats. Austin Davis walked and threw out a runner at second from left field to end the first inning.
That play by Davis bailed out Ryan Borucki (2-1, 2.63), who settled down and retired eight of nine hitters in one stretch and eight in a row in another. He pitched seven innings of three-run ball on seven hits and a walk. Borucki whiffed two and got nine of his 16 outs in play on the dirt. The Cubs scored a run off Patrick Murphy on two hits and two walks in the eighth to make it a one-run game. Dusty Isaacs survived a two-out double in the ninth with a game-ending strikeout for his ninth save. Murphy and Isaacs tied Borucki in strikeouts with two apiece.
Monday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Ryan Borucki, Lansing
2. Casey Lawrence, New Hampshire
1. Christian Lopes, New Hampshire
Tuesday's Schedule / Probable Starters
Columbus @ Buffalo, 6:05 pm ET - Drew Hutchison (1-2, 3.18)
New Hampshire @ Harrisburg, 7:00 pm ET - Luis Santos (4-1, 3.14)
Lansing @ Dayton, 7:00 pm - Sean Reid-Foley (2-3, 3.65)
Dunedin @ Daytona, 5:05 pm ET (DH) - Conner Greene (2-3, 2.82) / Chris Rowley (3-0, 3.02)
Extra Innings
Columbus 5 Buffalo 4 (12 Innings)
Buffalo, NY - The Bisons fought back from a 4-0 deficit but the Indians affiliate won this one three innings after regulation. Chad Jenkins (2-2) struck out two to strand a pair of runners in the 11th inning but a two-out double and a single turned out to be his downfall in the 12th. Chris Leroux went the first six innings and allowed four runs in the second. It was nearly five but Junior Lake started an inning-ending 9-4-2 putout at home. All of Leroux's runs were unearned after an error by Dalton Pompey in center field, who would leave the game after crashing into the outfield wall. Leroux gave up seven hits and had a 2-2 K/BB total. Seven of his 12 outs in play were on the diamond. Ben Rowen and Bo Schultz pitched two shutout innings of two-hit ball each with Schultz striking out two and Rowen whiffing one and walking one.
The Herd scored their first run in the third inning when Alexi Casilla doubled home a Tony Sanchez single but Casilla was thrown out going for a triple. Casilla doubled home another run in the fifth by cashing in a Casey Kotchman two-bagger and Domonic Brown followed with a two-run double that brought home Casilla and a walk by Andy Burns to tie it at 4-4. Brown was 3-for-6 on the day and Matt Dominguez had a pair of hits. Darrell Ceciliani had a base hit in five at-bats. Pompey walked but was picked off and caught stealing in his lone plate appearance.
New Hampshire 9 Reading 1
Manchester, NH - The Fisher Cats fell behind early against the Phillies affiliate but roared back with nine unanswered runs to win this one. The knockout punch came in a five-run second inning on RBI singles by Matt Dean, Ian Parmley and Jon Berti, an RBI double by Christian Lopes and a sacrifice fly by Jorge Flores. Lopes singled home two more runs in the sixth while Melky Mesa and Rowdy Tellez doubled home a run apiece in the seventh. Berti and Lopes accounted for nearly half of New Hampshire's 13 hits with three apiece with Lopes also stealing a base. Tellez and Parmley had two-hit games with Tellez taking one for the team. Ryan Lavarnway singled and walked twice. Roemon Fields walked and stole a base.Casey Lawrence (2-3, 4.85) coughed up a run in the first but scattered seven hits and a walk over seven strong innings. He struck out three and got his infielders to handle 10 of his 13 outs in play. The relief was perfect with Colt Hynes striking out two of the four men he faced and Wil Browning whiffed the last of the two men he was assigned to get. Their outs in play were on the ground so the outfielders could have gone to the concession stands early.
Lansing 5 South Bend 4
South Bend, IN - The Lugnuts climbed back over the .500 mark by holding off the Cubs. Carl Wise saved a good time for his first Midwest League home run as he hit a two-run shot to cap off a three-run fifth inning. Back-to-back doubles by Ryan Hissey and Juan Kelly produced the first run in the fifth. Hissey and Kelly had a hand in the first two Lansing runs in the first. A Hissey double play grounder and a Kelly single scored Gunnar Heidt and Andrew Guillotte, who started the game with base hits. Hissey had two walks to reach base three times. Max Pentecost walked and singled. Wise also drew a free pass. Lane Thomas and Josh Almonte had the other base raps but Thomas whiffed in his other three at-bats. Austin Davis walked and threw out a runner at second from left field to end the first inning.That play by Davis bailed out Ryan Borucki (2-1, 2.63), who settled down and retired eight of nine hitters in one stretch and eight in a row in another. He pitched seven innings of three-run ball on seven hits and a walk. Borucki whiffed two and got nine of his 16 outs in play on the dirt. The Cubs scored a run off Patrick Murphy on two hits and two walks in the eighth to make it a one-run game. Dusty Isaacs survived a two-out double in the ninth with a game-ending strikeout for his ninth save. Murphy and Isaacs tied Borucki in strikeouts with two apiece.
Monday's Linescores
*** 3 Stars!!! ***
3. Ryan Borucki, Lansing
2. Casey Lawrence, New Hampshire
1. Christian Lopes, New Hampshire
Tuesday's Schedule / Probable Starters
Columbus @ Buffalo, 6:05 pm ET - Drew Hutchison (1-2, 3.18)
New Hampshire @ Harrisburg, 7:00 pm ET - Luis Santos (4-1, 3.14)
Lansing @ Dayton, 7:00 pm - Sean Reid-Foley (2-3, 3.65)
Dunedin @ Daytona, 5:05 pm ET (DH) - Conner Greene (2-3, 2.82) / Chris Rowley (3-0, 3.02)
Extra Innings
- MiLB.com shines the spotlight on Buffalo's Wade LeBlanc, has a feature on Lansing's Angel Perdomo and a story on Dunedin's Conner Greene
- The New Hampshire Union Leader looks at new Fisher Cat Ryan Lavarnway
- The Tampa Bay Times has an update on the Blue Jays future in Dunedin
- CanadiansBaseball.com looks back at the brief time Kevin Pillar spent in Vancouver
