=== Daily Dugout Chatter - Friday, July 9th === (Games from Thursday, July 8th)
From The My Sportsbook
SKY SOX GO BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK AGAIN!
Garrett Atkins, Andy Tracy, and JD Closser hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning as the Colorado Springs Sky Sox crushed the Oklahoma RedHawks, 10-1, in Pacific Coast League action Thursday night. Colorado Springs improved its record to 47-41 while Oklahoma fell to 49-38. Tracy hit two home runs, his 18th, and 19th, and finished the night 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a double. Atkins extended his hit streak to 22 games with his 11th home run. Elvis Pena hit his first home run of the season and knocked in three runs for the Sky Sox. Thursday was the second day in a row that Colorado players hit back-to-back-to- back home runs in a game. Chris Gissell pitched seven strong innings and improved his record to 7-0. Gissell allowed one run on six hits and struck out seven. Oklahoma's Sam Narron lost his first game of the season and fell to 5-1. Narron was shelled for nine runs, five earned, on 12 hits over six innings. Adrian Gonzalez knocked in Oklahoma's only run while Jeff Pickler collected two hits.
NAVIGATORS STREAKING TOO LATE?
Brad Hennessey threw eight innings of one-run ball to lead the Norwich Navigators over the New Britain Rock Cats, 5-1. The Navigators have won five straight games to improve to 45-40, while the Rock Cats (39-47) have dropped four games in a row. Hennessey scattered six hits over his eight innings and walked one to even his record at 5-5. He struck out seven Rock Cats. Julio Cordido broke a scoreless tie in the sixth when he chased home Doug Clark with a single. Jake Wald followed two batters later with a two-run triple to give Norwich a 3-0 advantage. Clark finished the game 3-for-4 with a double. New Britain's Garrett Jones homered in the top of the seventh to account for the Rock Cats only run. Jones registered two hits on the night. In the Norwich half of the inning, Carlos Valderrama delivered his fourth round-tripper of the year with a solo shot to left field. Julian Benavidez drove in the final run of the game for the Navigators with a base knock. Colby Miller took the loss for the Rock Cats. He allowed four earned runs over 6 2/3rd innings. Miller is 1-2.
BISONS TRIM RED BARONS LEAD
Jhonny Peralta homered twice and scored four runs, while Brent Abernathy drove in three runs to give the Buffalo Bisons an 11-5 decision over the Charlotte Knights. With the win, the Bisons are now 4 1/2 games back of Scranton/Wilke- Barre for first place in the North Division of the International League. The Knights fell to 41-47. In the first inning, Peralta sent a solo shot to right center to give Buffalo a 1-0 lead. Trailing 2-1, Ernie Young singled home two runs in the third. Charlotte's Mark Bell then homered in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at three. Eric Crozier added a two-run single for Buffalo in the fifth and Dusty Wathan scored in the sixth on an error to seal the win for the Bisons. Abernathy plated three runs with a double in the seventh stanza. The Bisons' Jake Robbins (3-0) earned the win in four innings of relief. He scattered five hits and allowed one run. Jose Santiago suffered the loss to fall to 2-5. He allowed four runs -- three earned -- on two hits and three walks. Bell finished the game 3-for-4 with a run scored and a double.
YOU CANTU IT
Jorge Cantu homered twice and drove in five runs to lead the Durham Bulls over the Rochester Red Wings, 7-3. The Bulls (45-40) now own a one game lead in the South Division of the International League over the Richmond Braves. The Red Wings have dropped three straight contests to fall to 45-42. Cantu started the scoring in the game with a two-run shot in the first frame to give the Bulls a 2-0 lead. With the game knotted at two, Cantu then delivered a solo blast to left center. He finished his five RBI night with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and an RBI single in the eighth. BJ Upton scored two runs and had a pair of doubles in the win. Durham's Jose Veras earned the win in seven innings. He surrendered three runs -- two earned -- on six hits and one walk. Veras fanned six as he improved to 2-3. Franklin Nunez tossed two innings of shutout ball to record the save. Willie Eyre took the loss for Rochester. In five innings he yielded four earned runs on nine hits and four walks. Eyre fell to 5-3. Jason Kubel collected a pair of hits and drove in a run for the Red Wings.
THREE'S NOT A CROWD
TJ Bohn drew a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth inning that brought home Shin-soo Choo with the only run of the game, as the San Antonio Missions took this pitching duel, 1-0, over the El Paso Diablos. San Antonio used three pitchers to stifle the El Paso lineup. Starter Chris Buglovsky allowed just five hits, walked three and struck out four in seven innings of work. Winning pitcher Jared Thomas (3-1) tossed 1 1/3rd innings, allowing just a walk. Rick Guttormson earned his 14th save, striking out one in a perfect 2/3rds of an inning. Sergio Lizarraga suffered the loss and fell to 1-7. He allowed the lone run of the game, yielded six hits, walked seven, and struck out two in eight innings. His control problems were at their worst in the eighth inning, as he walked three batters in the frame. Conor Jackson had two of the Diablos' five hits. John Lindsey of San Antonio also had two hits.
CLIP SHOW IS FANTASTIC
Andy Phillips knocked in five runs and Michael Vento plated three as the Columbus Clippers pounded the Louisville Bats, 14-6, in the International League Thursday night. The Clippers pounded out 20 hits and improved its record to 48-38 with the win. The Bats fell to 41-47 overall. Phillips hit his 14th home run of the season and finished the game 4-for-6 with two doubles and four runs scored. John Rodriguez went 5-for-6 with four runs scored, two RBI and a double for Columbus. The first five batters in the Clippers line-up went a combined 18-for-27 with 13 runs scored, six doubles and ten RBI. Eric Schmitt tossed five innings and picked up his fifth win of the season. Schmitt (5-3) allowed six runs on 11 hits but held on for the win. Louisville's Dustin Moseley was shelled in his five innings of work and fell to 0-1. Moseley surrendered eight runs on 11 hits and two walks. Stephen Smitherman and Dane Sardinha knocked in two runs apiece while Felipe Lopez scored twice for the Bats.
CANNONS SHUTOUT HOGS
Ricardo Aramboles and Corey Thurman combined to toss a complete game shutout of the Winston Salem Warthogs as the Potomac Cannons won, 6-0 in a Carolina League affair. Aramboles allowed three hits and three walks in four innings, while Thurman completed the shutout by throwing five innings of three-hit ball. Thurman (1-2) recorded the win in the game. Ryan Hanigan plated three runs for the Cannons on a 2-for-5 performance. Kevin Howard and Brad Correll each scored twice in the win.
DURBIN DELIVERS
Chris Durbin's two-run home run in the tenth inning lifted the Sarasota Red Sox over the St. Lucie Mets, 6-4 in a Florida State League contest. Durbin's home run came with two out and scored Jay Sitzman who reached base with a pinch-hit single. Jason Howell (1-0) earned the win for the Red Sox in a relief appearance. He didn't allow a run over two innings and surrendered just two hits. St. Lucie's Jay Caligiuri knocked in three runs and delivered a home run in the loss.
