=== Daily Dugout Chatter - Friday, July 23rd === (Games from Thursday, July 22nd)
From The My Sportsbook
COLLAZO COLLECTING COMPLETERS
Willie Collazo tossed a complete game shutout and Derrick Gibson knocked in three runs as the Arkansas Travelers blanked the San Antonio Missions, 7-0, in Texas League action Thursday evening. Arkansas upped its record to 9-19 while San Antonio dropped to 16-13. Collazo (3-7, 5.00 ERA) scattered four hits and a walk in his second complete game shut out of the month. Back on July 1st , Collazo struck out ten and gave up four hits against Round Rock. Gibson blasted his third long ball of the season and finished the night 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Cristian Guerrero homered and scored twice while Tommy Murphy plated two runs for the Travelers. San Antonio's Rich Dorman suffered the loss and fell to 3-3. Dorman surrendered four runs, three earned, on eight hits, three walks and struck out eight over six innings. Hunter Brown (1- for-3, BB) was the only member of the Missions to reach base twice.
BREWER'S SIX-PACK
Jace Brewer had an amazing night at the plate, going an unreal 6-for-6, with a triple, home run, three RBI and four runs scored to pace Montgomery, as the Biscuits crushed the Tennessee Smokies, 18-6. Brewer had a two-run homer in the second inning, highlighting a four-run frame, and also had an RBI triple in the eighth inning, when the Biscuits put up an eight-spot. Brian Martin also had a big game, going 4-for-6 with two home runs, five RBI and three runs scored. Martin had a solo home run in both the second and third inning, a two- run single in the fourth, and an RBI single in the eighth. Chairon Isenia and Eric Reese drove in three runs apiece in the win. Reece had a two-run home run in the third inning. Chris Seddon (7-5) took advantage of the run support to pick up the win. He allowed four runs on six hits in six inning of work. Mike Wodnicki (0-1) was banged around for seven runs on nine hits in three innings of work to suffer the loss. Tennessee reliever Nick Stocks also had a horrible outing, allowing eight runs on seven hits in just 2/3rds of an inning. Papo Bolivar had a two-run home run in the third inning and drove in three overall for the Smokies. Nate Espy added a solo home run in the loss. Tennessee will head to Greenville tomorrow to start a new series, while Montgomery welcomes in West Tenn.
DANDY ANDY
Andy Marte smacked a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning to give the Greenville Braves a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over Carolina. Greenville managed just three hits through the first six innings, but put up a run in each of the final three innings to steal one from the Mud Cats. Kelly Johnson got the Braves on the board in the seventh inning with his 12th home run of the season, a solo shot to right field. Adam Stern would tie the game in the eighth with an RBI single that plated Brayan Pena. Marte then put the Braves up with a shot to left field, his 14th homer of the year. Jamie Emiliano improved to 4-0 with the win in relief. Emiliano tossed two scoreless innings and allowed one hit while striking out two. Macay McBride tossed four strong innings of relief, striking out five while allowing just a hit. Mike Flannery was dealt the loss and fell to 2-1. Flannery allowed three runs on four hits in three innings of work. Peter Bauer tossed four scoreless innings, while Ryan Baker threw two scoreless for the Mud Cats. Rob Ryan and Casey Grzecka each knocked in a run in the loss. Carolina heads to Chattanooga tomorrow, while Greenville brings in Tennessee.
HOLY MAJEWSKI
Val Majewski homered and knocked in six runs, while Lance Burkhart knocked in two runs of his own with a homer, as the Bowie Baysox doubled up the Reading Phillies 8-4 Thursday afternoon. Majewski hit his 14th home run of the year, a three-run shot in the third inning, and finished 2-for-3 with one run scored to lead the Baysox offense. Burkhart got the scoring started for Bowie with a two-run shot in the second inning. He went 1-for-3 on the day and scored one run. Jeff Hundley (1-2) picked up the win in relief after he tossed 2 2/3rd scoreless innings. Hundley gave up one hit, walked one batter, and fanned four. Kevin Dougherty (1-4) was rocked for six earned runs in just 3 1/3rd innings to take the loss for Reading. Dougherty allowed six hits, two of them homers, walked four, and struck out two batters. Eugene Kingsale chipped in a 2-for-4 effort and scored two times in the win for Bowie. Kevin Barker hit his 13th home run of the year in the loss. He went 1-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored. Bowie (53-46) now sits six games behind Altoona in the Southern Division while Reading (43-54) falls 15 games behind Altoona.
DOSTER STILL GOING - STREAK REACHES 28
Brad Hennessey shut down the Edmonton offense for seven innings and two Fresno players drove in three runs apiece as the Grizzlies blanked the Trappers 9-0 Thursday afternoon. Hennessey (2-0) scattered five hit over his seven innings to earn his second victory with Fresno. He allowed three walks and struck out four batters in his outing. Brian Dallimore went 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored and Damon Minor hit his 14th homer of the year and also drove in three runs to lead the Fresno offense. Minor finished 1-for-3 and scored one run. Mike Johnson (6-5) gave up four earned runs over six innings to take the loss for Edmonton. Johnson allowed six hits, walked one, and struck out four batters. Adam Shabala and Dave Doster combined for six hits and four runs scored to help in the win. Shabala went 3-for-6 with two runs scored and Doster finished 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, to increase his hitting streak to 28 games. Ryan Church was the only Edmonton hitter to record multiple hits as he went 2-for-4 on the day. Fresno (45-54) won their second in a row while Edmonton (52-45) lost their second straight but remain atop the Northern Division, 1/2 game ahead of Portland.
WHAT GOT INTO THOSE DUST DEVILS?
Florentino Nunez drove in four runs and also scored four times, and Pedro Strop had four RBI of his own to pace Tri City, as the Dust Devils demolished the Yakima Bears, 21-1, in Northwest League play. Nunez went 4-for-6 on the night with two doubles and his first home run of the year. Strop had three hits, including two doubles as well. Stephen Ghutzman knocked in three runs and scored a pair, while Jud Thigpen and Nelson Robledo each drove in a pair for the Dust Devils. Jose Valdez and Matt Macri each scored three runs and drove in a run in the win. Steven Register picked up the win and improved to 1-4. He allowed a run on three hits in six innings, with five strikeouts and issued one walk. Bears' starter Keith Whatley (1-5) was crushed for ten runs, seven earned, on ten hits in just 1 2/3rd innings to absorb the loss. Reuben Kerbs, who relieved Whatley, wasn't much relief at all, allowing eight runs on eight hits in 2 1/3rd innings. Tri City tied the Northwest League record for doubles (10) and for times hit-by-pitch (6) in this one-sided affair.
FOUR FROM RUSS, FOUR FROM JULIUS
Russ Adams and Julius Matos drove in four runs each to pace the Syracuse SkyChiefs' 11-5 win over the Toledo Mud Hens on Thursday night. Toledo immediately jumped out to a 3-0 lead in a first inning highlighted by Danny Klassen's two-run single. Syracuse got right back in it by scoring a pair of runs in the third, then took the lead with a two-spot in the fourth. Anthony Sanders singled home a run to tie the game and Jorge Sequea provided Syracuse with the lead with an RBI triple. The Mud Hens regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning. Eric Owens tied the game with an RBI groundout to second base. Greg Norton gave his team a 5-4 lead by slapping an RBI single to right field. That marked the end of the back-and-forth scoring affair, however, as Syracuse took the lead for good with a four-run output in the top of the sixth. Adams drove home two runs with a big two-out double to left field off of Pat Ahearne. Matos followed by belting a two-run home run, his third of the season. Adams and Matos struck again in the eighth by smacking an RBI double and two-run single, respectively, to give Syracuse an 11-5 advantage. Josue Matos (3-6) picked up the win in six innings of work. Ahearne (7-8) suffered the loss. Toledo opens up a four-game series in Scranton on Friday, while Syracuse hosts Buffalo.
DUBOIS BRINGS THE NOISE
Jason Dubois hit a pair of home runs and collected six RBI as the Iowa Cubs clocked the Nashville Sounds, 12-7, in a Pacific Coast League contest Thursday night. With the win, Iowa improved to 56-40 while Nashville slipped to 46-51. With the Cubs down 7-5 in the seventh inning, Dubois put Iowa ahead with a three-run home run to right field before jacking another three-run shot in the ninth. Also having solid games at the plate for Iowa were Brendan Harris, who went 2- for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored, and Bill Selby, who contributed a double, a home run and three RBI. Despite giving up seven runs on eight hits in six innings, Iowa starter Shawn Sedlacek (6-4) got the victory. Losing pitcher Chris Fussell (1-4) was touched for four runs on three hits in one inning. In the loss, Nashville first baseman Chris Truby doubled, homered, drove in two runs and scored two runs. Up next, Iowa will travel to Colorado Springs while Nashville will tangle with Oklahoma.
