Games of June 18

Zack Granite probably deserves a call-up, but I don't know what the Twins would do with him right now.  The Lookouts win the first half South Championship.  The Kernels clinch a playoff spot with a huge first inning.

ROCHESTER 3, PAWTUCKET 2 IN PAWTUCKET (8 INNINGS--SCHEDULED 7 INNINGS)

ByungHo Park had an RBI single in the first and Zack Granite had an RBI single in the second to give the Red Wings a 2-0 lead.  Blake Swihart hit a two-run homer in the fourth to tie it 2-2.  There things stood until the eighth, when Matt Hague hit a leadoff home run.  In the bottom of the eighth, a hit batsman and an error put men on first and third with none out.  Michael Tonkin then struck out the next three batters to end the game.

Chris Heston pitched four innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and no walks with one strikeout.  He threw 68 pitches.  Drew Rucinski pitched two shutout innings to drop his ERA to 1.98.  Tonkin struck out four in two shutout innings and has 18 strikeouts in 14 innings.  Park was 2-for-4 with a double.  He is 7-for-14 in his last four games, raising his average thirty points to .219.  Zack Granite was 1-for-4, giving him a seventeen game hitting streak.  He is batting .346.

ROCHESTER 2, PAWTUCKET 1 IN PAWTUCKET (GAME 2--7 INNINGS)

Rusney Castillo singled in a run in the second, but an error tied it 1-1 in the third.  In the fifth, Tommy Field singled and scored on J. B. Shuck's single-plus-error-plus-error* to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. The Red Sox got the tying run to third with two out in the fifth but did not come any closer

Tim Melville, making his first Rochester start, pitched five innings, giving up one run on three hits and four walks with four strikeouts.  Trevor Hildenberger struck out three in two shutout innings.  His ERA is now 2.17 and he has 30 strikeouts and just 7 walks in 27 innings.  Shuck was 2-for-3 with a double.  Zack Granite had his hitting streak snapped at seventeen with an 0-for-2 plus a walk.  His line is .341/.397/.470.

*That must have been quite a play.  The play-by-play describes it as follows:  "J. B. Shuck singles on a line drive to center fielder Rusney Castillo. Tommy Field scores. J. Shuck to 2nd. Missed catch error by right fielder Steve Selsky. Missed catch error by center fielder Rusney Castillo."

CHATTANOOGA 10, TENNESSEE 2 IN TENNESSEE

Three doubles and two singles in the fourth inning scored four runs to give the Lookouts a 5-1 lead.  T. J. White added a three-run homer in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

Paul Clemens pitched five innings, giving up one run on five hits and one walk with one strikeout.  Todd Van Steensel pitched two shutout innings, dropping his ERA to 1.93.  Andy Wilkins was 2-for-4 with a home run (his second) and a double, driving in three.  LaMonte Wade was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Ryan Walker was 2-for-4.  Nick Gordon was 2-for-5 with two doubles and three runs and is batting .315.  Dan Gamache was 2-for-5 with a double.  The Lookouts won the South Division first half championship by five games.

FORT MYERS MIRACLE

No game scheduled.

CEDAR RAPIDS 16, CLINTON 3 IN CEDAR RAPIDS

The Kernels scored nine runs in the first and followed it with three more in the second to put this game out of reach early.  They batted thirteen men in the first inning, getting four singles, a double, a triple, a home run, two walks, and a hit batsman.

The Kernels went with a bullpen game, and of course the big first inning made that a lot easier to do.  Max Cordy started and struck out four in 3.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and two walks.  Alex Robinson pitched 2.1 scoreless innings.  Patrick McGuff struck out two in two shutout innings.  Travis Blankenhorn was 4-for-5 with a home run (his eighth) and three RBIs.  Ben Rortvedt was 3-for-5 with a home run and three runs.  Brandon Lopez was 3-for-5 with three runs.  Aaron Whitefield was 2-for-3 with a home run (his seventh), a double, and a walk, driving in five.  Jermaine Palacios was 1-for-2 with a walk and is batting .322.  The win clinched a playoff spot for the Kernels.

DSL TWINS

No game scheduled.

TODAY'S TILTS

9:30  DSL Twins at DSL Yankees
5:30  Fort Myers at Jupiter (Scott Squier, 2-6, 4.52)
6:05  Buffalo (Brett Oberholtzer, 1-4, 3.40) at Rochester (David Hurlbut, 3-4, 3.79)