Australian League: Games of January 23

Sydney steals home with a win.  Perth withstands a late rally.

SYDNEY 4, MELBOURNE 3 IN SYDNEY

Melbourne:  Ryan Casteel (Colorado) was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI.  Jared Schlehuber (Kansas City) was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Joe Burns pitched seven innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on nine hits and one walk with four strikeouts.

Sydney:  Jacob May (White Sox) was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run.  Trent Oeltjen was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.  Craig Anderson struck out seven in 6.1 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits and no walks.

The game:  Mitch Dening doubled in Oeltjen in the first to give Sydney a 1-0 lead.  Casteel singled in a run in the fourth to tie it at one.  Melbourne took the lead in the sixth on an RBI single by Justin Huber and a run-scoring double by Darryl George (Tampa Bay).  Oeltjen delivered a two-out two-run single in the seventh to tie it up again, this time at three.  Sydney took the lead in the bottom of the eighth on two singles and a straight steal of home by Trent D'Antonio (Miami).  The Melbourne pitcher, catcher, and manager were all ejected following the steal.  Melbourne went down in order in the ninth.

PERTH 4, ADELAIDE 3 IN PERTH

Adelaide:  Josh Cakebread was 3-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Brock Hebert (Seattle) was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.  Stefan Welch (Boston) was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Perth:  Corey Adamson (San Diego) was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs.  Brandon Tripp was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Jack Frawley pitched six innings, allowing one run on six hits and no walks with five strikeouts.

The game:  Luke Hughes singled in a run in the first to give Perth a 1-0 lead.  Tripp's two-run single in the fifth increased the lead to 3-0.  Adelaide got on the board in the sixth with three singles, the last an RBI base hit by Welch, but Perth got the run back in the seventh on a run-scoring single by Tim Kennelly (Philadelphia).  In the ninth, three walks loaded the bases for Adelaide with one out.  A force out scored one and an Hebert single brought home another, making the score 4-3 runners on first and second with two down.  A strikeout preserved the win for Perth.

CANBERRA AT BRISBANE

Rained out.