Games of May 18

Kennys Vargas stays hot.  Randy LeBlanc throws the blanks.  Williams Ramirez makes a fine Class A debut.

ROCHESTER 7, CHARLOTTE 6 IN CHARLOTTE (10 INNINGS)

The Red Wings lost leads of 3-1 and 6-3 but ultimately prevailed.  Max Kepler was 3-for-5.  Kennys Vargas was 2-for-5 with a home run, his sixth.  Over his last five games, he is 11-for-22 with four home runs and has raised his average from .211 to .257.  Buck Britton hit a home run, his second.  James Beresford was 1-for-4 with a double and is batting .312.  David Martinez struck out eight in 6.2 innings but allowed four runs on five hits and two walks.

BILOXI 5, CHATTANOOGA 4 IN CHATTANOOGA

Kyle Wren's two-run single in the seventh broke a 3-3 tie and put the Shuckers in the lead to stay.  The Lookouts had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh and put men on second and third with two out in the ninth, but could not tie the score.  D. J. Hicks went 4-for-5 and Joe Maloney was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  Ryan Walker was 1-for-4 and is batting .361 in 36 at-bats since being called up from Fort Myers.  Ryan Eades struck out six in six innings, giving up three runs on six hits and no walks.

DUNEDIN 5, FORT MYERS 3 IN DUNEDIN

The Blue Jays scored four in the sixth, turning a 3-0 deficit into a 4-3 lead and eventually into victory.  Keaton Steele had pitched five shutout innings and had retired eight in a row going into the sixth, but allowed a walk, two doubles, and three singles in the sixth inning.  The Miracle had the bases loaded with one out in the ninth and could not score.  Steele's line was six innings, four runs, ten hits, one walk, and two strikeouts.  Brian Navaretto was 3-for-4, boosting his average into triple digits at .148 in 54 at-bats.  Max Murphy was 2-for-4 with a home run, his fourth.  Nick Gordon was 1-for-4 and is now batting .328.

CEDAR RAPIDS 8, BELOIT 0 IN CEDAR RAPIDS

The Kernels scored two in the second and four in the third and Randy LeBlanc took it from there, throwing six shutout innings while giving up four hits and three walks with one strikeout.  He now has an ERA of 0.78 and a WHIP of 0.87 in 46 innings (7 starts).  Williams Ramirez made his Class A debut and pitched two perfect innings with three strikeouts.  Daniel Kihle was 3-for-4 and raised his average to .313.  J. J. Fernandez was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  LaMonte Wade was 1-for-5 and is now batting .331.  Luis Arraez was 1-for-4 with a double and is now batting .310.

TODAY'S TILTS

5:30  Fort Myers (Felix Jorge, 2-3, 1.80) at Dunedin (Justin Shafer, 0-1, 3.77)
6:05  Rochester (Jason Wheeler, 1-0, 2.08) at Durham (Justin Marks, 1-3, 3.52)
6:35  Beloit (Kyle Friedrichs, 2-2, 1.73) at Cedar Rapids (Sam Clay, 3-1, 1.06)
7:05  Chattanooga (D. J. Baxendale, 3-4, 2.88) at Jackson (Brett Ash, 4-1, 3.58)

Games of May 17

Tommy Field and Kennys Vargas lead the Red Wings.  Chattanooga and Cedar Rapids could not climb out of early holes.  Only three hits for Fort Myers.

ROCHESTER 9, CHARLOTTE 3 IN CHARLOTTE

Stephen Wickens homered in the third to break a 2-2 tie and Tommy Field hit a two-run homer in a four-run fourth to put the Red Wings in control.  Andrew Albers gave up two in the first but pitched well after that, going six innings and allowing three runs on ten hits and a walk with three strikeouts.  Field led the offense, going 3-for-4 with two home runs.  Kennys Vargas stayed hot, going 2-for-3 with a two-run homer (his fifth) and a walk.  He is 9-for-17 with three homers in his last four games, taking his average from .211 to .252.  James Beresford was 1-for-5 and is now batting .313.  Byron Buxton again did not play.

BILOXI 9, CHATTANOOGA 7 IN CHATTANOOGA

The Shuckers scored four in the first and the Lookouts could never catch up.  After a strong beginning to the season, Aaron Slegers has had two poor starts in a row, this time giving up seven runs on nine hits and two walks with three strikeouts in four innings.  Joe Maloney was 3-for-5 with a double.  Zach Granite was 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk.

DUNEDIN 4, FORT MYERS 0 IN DUNEDIN

The Miracle had only three hits in being blanked.  Tyler Jay pitched well, too, striking out six in six innings and allowing just one run on four hits and two walks, but John Curtiss came in and gave up three runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach.  No Miracle player had more than one hit.  Nick Gordon was given the day off.

BELOIT 5, CEDAR RAPIDS 3 IN CEDAR RAPIDS

The Snappers strung together five consecutive singles a three-run second.  The Kernels cut it to 3-2, but three walks and a two-run single by Edwin Diaz made it 5-2 in the eighth and put the game out of reach.  Cody Stashak pitched well other than in the second inning, giving up three runs on seven hits and no walks with two strikeouts.  The Kernels had only five hits, with Daniel Kihle leading the offense by going 2-for-4.  Lamonte Wade was 1-for-2 with two walks, raising his average to .336.  Luis Arraez was 0-for-4 and is now batting .313.

TODAY'S TILTS

10:15  Biloxi (Wei-Chung Wang, 2-2, 3.43) at Chattanooga (Ryan Eades, 2-2, 5.00)
5:30  Fort Myers (Keaton Steele, 1-3, 4.01) at Dunedin (Kyle Westwood, 0-5, 8.27)
6:05  Rochester (David Martinez, 1-3, 5.14) at Charlotte (Jacob Turner, 3-1, 3.82)
6:35  Beloit (Angel Duno, 3-1, 1.80) at Cedar Rapids (Randy LeBlanc, 4-2, 0.90)

Games of May 16

Strong starting pitching throughout, as Tommy Milone, David Hurlbut, and Kohl Stewart all have good games.  Kennys Vargas is heating up.  Nick Gordon stays hot.

CHARLOTTE 3, ROCHESTER 2 IN CHARLOTTE (11 INNINGS)

Daniel Fields singled home the winning run with one out in the eleventh to give the Knights a victory.  Tommy Milone again pitched well, going seven innings and giving up two runs on eight hits and no walks with four strikeouts.  Kennys Vargas was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourth).  He is 7-for-14 with two homers in his last three games and has raised his average from .211 to .242.  Stephen Wickens was 2-for-4 and Wilfredo Tovar was 2-for-5.  James Beresford was 0-for-5, dropping his average to .318.  Byron Buxton was held out of the lineup due to back spasms.

CHATTANOOGA 1, BILOXI 0 IN CHATTANOOGA (10 INNINGS)

In the tenth, with two out and men on second and third, the Shuckers elected to pitch to Daniel Palka.  He didn't exactly crush the ball, but he delivered an infield single that brought home the winning run for the Lookouts.  David Hurlbut had a rare good game, and it was really good:  he threw nine shutout innings and gave up just two hits and no walks, striking out seven.  Joe Maloney was 2-for-3 with a double.  Stuart Turner was 2-for-3.

FORT MYERS 5, DUNEDIN 2 IN DUNEDIN

Nick Gordon homered in the first and Logan Wade had a two-run triple in a four-run third that put the Miracle up 5-0.  The Blue Jays got on the board with two runs in the ninth but did not bring the tying run up to bat.  Kohl Stewart again pitched well, pitching six shutout innings while allowing three hits and three walks with four strikeouts.  His ERA falls to 1.77 with a WHIP of 0.98 and 37 strikeouts with 13 walks in 40.2 innings.  Gordon was 3-for-5 to raise his average to .331.  Chris Paul was 2-for-5 with two doubles and Wade was 2-for-5 with a double and a triple.  Max Murphy was 1-for-4 and is now batting .300.

CEDAR RAPIDS KERNELS

No game scheduled.

TODAY'S TILTS

10:00  Fort Myers (Tyler Jay, 3-2, 3.03) at Dunedin (Francisco Rios, 0-1, 6.75)
6:05  Rochester (Andrew Albers, 1-0, 3.54) at Charlotte (Chris Beck, 3-2, 4.58)
6:15  Biloxi (Brooks Hall, 0-0, 0.00) at Chattanooga (Aaron Slegers, 2-3, 3.27)
6:35  Beloit (James Naile, 1-5, 4.26) at Cedar Rapids (Cody Stashak, 2-2, 1.95)

Games of May 15

Stephen Gonsalves has another good game.  Trey Vavra hits his fourth homer.  Only one hit for Cedar Rapids.

SYRACUSE AT ROCHESTER

Postponed due to inclement weather.

CHATTANOOGA 2, BILOXI 1 IN CHATTANOOGA

Ryan Walker tripled and scored on a Joe Maloney single to break a 1-1 tie.  Nick Greenwood pitched eight innings, giving up one run on six hits and no walks with three strikeouts.  Omar Bencomo, who began the season as a starter, pitched the ninth to get the save.  The Lookouts had only five hits, but three of them were for extra bases, as Daniel Palka and Travis Harrison hit back-to-back doubles in the sixth to tie the game at one.

FORT MYERS 7, ST. LUCIE 1 IN ST. LUCIE

A three-run homer by Trey Vavra capped a four-run third that put the Miracle up 4-0 and they controlled the game the rest of the way.  Stephen Gonsalves pitched 5.1 innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts.  His ERA is now 1.27, his WHIP is 0.84, and he has 38 strikeouts with 14 walks in 42.2 innings.  Austin Diemer was 3-for-3 with a home run and a double.  Vavra was 2-for-4 and the home run was his fourth.  Max Murphy was 1-for-3 with a home run (his third) and a walk and is now batting .303.  Nick Gordon was 2-for-5 and is batting .319.

WISCONSIN 7, CEDAR RAPIDS 1 IN WISCONSIN

The Kernels took a 1-0 lead in the second on a walk, an error, and a ground out, but the Timber Rattlers got two in the bottom of the second and never looked back.  The Kernels had only one hit in the game, a two-out single by Zander Weil in the first inning.  Miles Nordgren pitched five innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on seven hits and three walks.  He did strike out eight.  LaMonte Wade and Luis Arraez were both given the day off.

TODAY'S TILTS

5:30  Fort Myers (Kohl Stewart, 2-1, 2.08) at Dunedin (Brad Allen, 3-1, 5.14)
6:05  Rochester (Tommy Milone, 1-0, 1.59) at Charlotte (Erik Johnson, 2-1, 3.77)
6:15  Biloxi (Josh Hader, 1-1, 1.04) at Chattanooga (David Hurlbut, 2-2, 6.48)
Cedar Rapids Kernels--no game scheduled.

Games of May 14

Kennys Vargas and John Ryan Murphy lead the Red Wings.  Daniel Palka goes deep for the Lookouts.  Big innings carry the Kernels.

ROCHESTER 8, SYRACUSE 3 IN ROCHESTER

Buck Britton had a three-run double in the first, Kennys Vargas hit a two-run homer in the third, and John Ryan Murphy had a two-run double in the third to lead the Red Wings to a win.  Logan Darnell struck out five in five innings but gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk.  J. T. Chargois struck out five in two shutout innings and now has seven strikeouts in 2.2 innings since being called up to AAA.  James Beresford was 4-for-5 to raise his average to .331.  Vargas was 3-for-5 with a home run (his third) and a double.  Byron Buxton was 0-for-3 and was removed from the game in the fifth inning with back spasms.  He is now batting .301.

CHATTANOOGA 5, BILOXI 2 IN CHATTANOOGA

Daniel Palka hit a two-run homer in the first and the Lookouts led all the way.  The home run was Palka's sixth.  Zach Granite was 4-for-4 and Shannon Wilkerson was 2-for-4 with a double.  Ryan Walker was 2-for-3 and is now batting .385 in eight games with the Lookouts.  D. J. Baxendale struck out nine in six innings. allowing two runs on eight hits but no walks.  His ERA is now 2.88.  The score was 3-2 through two, but the Lookouts got single runs in the fifth and seventh to secure the win.

ST. LUCIE 3, FORT MYERS 2 IN ST. LUCIE (11 INNINGS)

It was tied 2-2 after three and there was no more scoring until the eleventh, when Michael Katz delivered an RBI single to win it for the Mets.  Randy Rosario started and pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts.  Max Murphy was 3-for-5, raising his average to .302, and Chris Paul was 2-for-5 with a double.  Nick Gordon was 1-for-3 with a walk and is now batting .315.

CEDAR RAPIDS 14, WISCONSIN 6 IN WISCONSIN

It was a game of big innings.  The Kernels scored seven in the first, getting the advantage of three walks and a hit batsman.  The Timber Rattlers bounced back with five in the fourth to make it 7-5, but the Kernels matched that with five in the sixth.  The sixth-inning damage was all done after the first two batters of the inning were retired.  Sean Miller delivered a two-run triple in the inning.  Brian Olson was 3-for-5 with a double and a walk and Alex Perez was 3-for-5 with a walk.  Nelson Molina was 1-for-3 with a walk and is now batting .306.  LaMonte Wade was 1-for-4 with a walk and is batting .333.  Dereck Rodriguez pitched well apart from the one big inning, going six innings and allowing six runs on six hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

TODAY'S TILTS

12:00  Fort Myers (Stephen Gonsalves, 4-1, 1.21) at St. Lucie (Josh Prevost, 2-3, 5.87)
12:35  Syracuse (Austin Voth, 2-1, 2.31) at Rochester (Tommy Milone, 1-0, 1.59)
1:05  Cedar Rapids (Miles Nordgren, 1-0, 2.33) at Wisconsin (Freddy Peralta, 2-0, 2.28)
1:15  Biloxi (Jorge Ortega, 0-3, 3.90) at Chattanooga (Nick Greenwood, 0-0, 9.00)

Games of May 13

Fives were wild for A. J. Murray.  Some more close games, but we came out on the right side of more of them.

ROCHESTER 4, SYRACUSE 3 IN ROCHESTER

The Red Wings lost a 3-0 lead, but John Ryan Murphy's RBI single with two out in the eighth carried Rochester to victory.  Jason Wheeler pitched five shutout innings before giving up a couple of home runs in the sixth.  Even so, he struck out nine and gave up two runs on five hits and a walk in six innings.  His ERA is now 2.08 with a WHIP of 1.00 and 25 strikeouts with only 6 walks in 26 AAA innings.  James Beresford was 2-for-4 with a triple and a double, raising his average to .311.  Byron Buxton was 1-for-4 and is now batting .313.  Max Kepler and Kennys Vargas each went 2-for-4.

CHATTANOOGA 2, PENSACOLA 1 IN CHATTANOOGA

A run-scoring ground out put the Lookouts up 2-1 in the sixth.  The Blue Wahoos put men on first and second with one out in the eighth but did not tie the score.  Ryan Eades had his second consecutive strong outing, allowing one run on just one hit and three walks with three strikeouts in six innings.  D. J. Hicks was 3-for-4 and is 8-for-16 in his last four games, raising his average from .196 to .236.  Daniel Palka was 2-for-4 with a double.  Leonardo Reginatto was 1-for-3 with a walk and is now hitting .306.

ST. LUCIE 3, FORT MYERS 1 IN ST. LUCIE

The Miracle scored in the first inning but not again, and when the Mets got two in the third they led the rest of the game.  Felix Jorge pitched 7.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts.  His ERA is now 1.80 and his WHIP is 0.85 in 40 innings.  Nick Gordon was 2-for-4 with a double, raising his average to .314.  Tanner Witt was 2-for-4.

CEDAR RAPIDS 13, WISCONSIN 2 IN WISCONSIN

The Kernels scored three in the first and broke the game open with four in the fourth.  A. J. Murray had a huge day, going 5-for-5 with two home runs (his fourth and fifth) and a walk.  He scored five times and drove in five.  Daniel Kihle went 2-for-5 with a double and a walk.  Nelson Molina was 2-for-4 with two walks, raising his average to .303.  LaMonte Wade was 1-for-5 with a walk and is now batting .336.  Luis Arraez was 1-for-6 and is now batting .326.

Note:  We speculated about Andro Cutura's health when he came out after only two innings yesterday.  He is now on the disabled list with elbow inflammation.

TODAY'S TILTS

1:05  Cedar Rapids (Dereck Rodriguez, 0-4, 4.97) at Wisconsin (Jake Drossner, 1-4, 5.13)
5:30  Fort Myers (Randy Rosario, 2-3, 3.55) at St. Lucie (Chris Flexen, 2-4, 4.54)
6:05  Syracuse (Taylor Hill, 1-2, 3.31) at Rochester (Logan Darnell, 3-3, 4.25)
6:15  Biloxi (Adrian Houser, 2-3, 7.20) at Chattanooga (D. J. Baxendale, 2-4, 2.86)

Games of May 12

All four games were decided by one run.  Three of them went the wrong way.

GWINNETT 4, ROCHESTER 3 IN ROCHESTER

Doubles by James Beresford and Buck Britton highlighted a two-run sixth that cut the Braves' lead to 4-3, but the Red Wings could not get the tying run.  They had the tying run on second in the sixth and on third in the seventh, but did not get a hit after that.  Beresford was 3-for-4 with a double, raising his average to .304.  Byron Buxton was 2-for-5 and is now batting .316.  David Martinez struck out five in five innings but allowed four runs on nine hits and a walk.

PENSACOLA 5, CHATTANOOGA 4 IN CHATTANOOGA

A comeback again fell short, as the Lookouts scored one in the ninth and put the tying run on second but could do no more.  Chattanooga had scored in the first, but the Blue Wahoos tied it in the second, took a 2-1 lead in the third, and were in front the rest of the way.  Stuart Turner was 3-for-4 with a home run, his second.  Zach Granite was 2-for-5.  Shannon Wilkerson hit a home run.  Leonardo Reginatto was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .306.  Aaron Slegers had a rare bad game, surrendering four runs on six hits and four walks with three strikeouts in 4.1 innings.

FORT MYERS 4, BRADENTON 3 IN FORT MYERS

Chris Paul's two-run single in the seventh broke a 2-2 tie and the Miracle hung on to win.  Trailing 4-3, the Marauders had the bases loaded with none out in the eighth and got a leadoff triple in the ninth, but did not tie the game.  Todd Van Steensel came in with the bases loaded in the eighth and got a well-earned save.  Keaton Steele started and pitched six innings, giving up just two runs despite allowing ten hits and a walk with two strikeouts.  Max Murphy led the offense, going 3-for-3 with a double and a walk.  He is 6-for-13 in his last four games, raising his average from .182 to .286 since joining the Miracle.  Edgar Corcino was 2-for-5 with a double.  Nick Gordon was 1-for-4 and is now batting .307.

WISCONSIN 6, CEDAR RAPIDS 5 IN WISCONSIN (10 INNINGS)

The Kernels lost leads of 4-0 and 5-4 before falling in an extra inning.  Mitch Ghelfi homered leading off the ninth to tie it 5-5 and Isan Diaz delivered an RBI single in the tenth to win it.  Andro Cutura started but came out after two innings.  I don't know why, but he gave up no hits and three walks with three strikeouts in those innings.  He had not pitched since May 4--possibly he has a minor injury and was on a pitch count.  J. J. Fernandez led the offense with a 3-for-4 day, including two doubles.  Luis Arraez was 2-for-4 with a walk, raising his average to .337.  LaMonte Wade was 0-for-4 and is now batting .343.