=== Daily Dugout Chatter - Wednesday, July 28th === (Games from Tuesday, July 27th)
From The My Sportsbook
PAZ PLATES 5
Rich Paz exploded for five RBI and scored three runs while Carlos Maldonado plated four as the Birmingham Barons crushed the Montgomery Biscuits, 19-2, in Southern League action Tuesday night. Birmingham improved its record to 17-12 while Montgomery fell to 12-19. Paz hit his first home run as a Baron and finished the night 4-for-5 with two doubles and a walk. Birmingham knocked out 21 hits including two doubles from Maldonado. Nate Murphy went 3-for-6 with a home run, his 13th, three RBI and scored twice for the Barons. Brian Anderson also plated three runs in the win. Heath Phillips scattered three hits and a walk over seven shutout innings. Phillips evened his record at 8-8 and lowered his ERA to 3.94 with the win. Montgomery's Chris Seddon was shelled in his 3 2/3rd innings of work and fell to 7-6. Seddon surrendered eight runs on 11 hits and three walks. Dan DeMent knocked in both of Montgomery's runs while Brian Martin collected two hits and scored a run.
GOTHREAUX'S EIGHT SHUTOUT INNINGS
Jared Gothreaux baffled hitters in eight shutout innings and Todd Self knocked in three runs to lead the Round Rock Express over the San Antonio Missions by the score of 6-0. Gothreaux (7-5) scattered three hits, struck out four and walked two over eight innings en route to the win. Denny McDaniel pitched the ninth inning to complete the shutout for the Express. Phil Devey got knocked around as he allowed five runs on seven hits in only 3 2/3 innings. He fell to 1-4 with the loss. Self went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI and Junior Zamora collected three hits, including a home run, for the Express in the win. John Lindsey had two of the four Missions hits in the loss. The Missions have lost six out of the their last eight games and fell to 18-15. The Express ended their three game losing streak and are now only one game behind the Missions for first place in the West Division.
THORMAN GIVES BRAVES WIN IN 12
Scott Thorman doubled home Aaron Herr in the bottom of the 12th giving the Greenville Braves a 6-5 win over the Carolina Mudcats. Greenville improved its record to 20-10 while Carolina dropped to 11-19. Herr started the Greenville rally in the 12th with a one-out double then scored on Thorman's two-bagger down the right field line. Jackson Melian hit his second home run of the season and Napoleon Calzado collected five hits for the Braves. Daniel Curtis picked up the win out of the bullpen and upped his record to 5-2. Curtis gave up one unearned run on three hits and struck out six over four innings of work. Starter Brian Moehler tossed seven strong innings but did not factor into the decision. Carolina's Ryan Baker took the loss and fell to 4-2. Baker gave up one run on two hits and struck out one in 2/3rds of an inning. Rex Rundgren went 3-for-4 with two RBI and Chip Ambres scored three runs and hit his 11th home run for the Mudcats.
ANDERSON AND DIAZ LEAD CARDS OVER TRIBE
The skies cleared up in Johnson City on Tuesday night just in time for the Johnson City Cardinals' second game of the series against the Burlington Indians. The Cardinals (22-13) defeated the B-Tribe (14-21) in a 3-2 decision. Goose eggs filled up the scoreboard until the Cardinals brought in two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Johnson City's two runs were courtesy of Sandy Diaz (Azua, Dominican Republic), who hit his third home run of the season to bring in Juan Lucena (Lara, Venezuela). The next run of the night for either team would come three innings later from Samuel Herbert (Davis, Calif.), who was brought in by centerfielder Simon Williams (Portland, Maine). In the eighth inning, Burlington rung up two runs, but they would be unable to score again. Mark Worrell Jr. (Boynton Beach, Fla.), who earned his sixth save of the season, would strike out three consecutive batters in the ninth to end the game Overall the game was based on pitching as the Cardinals' pitching crew allowed only three hits in the night, and the B-Tribe's crew allowed five. Phillip Andersen (Chandler, Ariz.) picks up his third win and improves to 3-0, while Garrett Alwert falls to 3-3 with the loss.
BEES BITE BACK
Burlington scored three runs in the second, third and sixth innings and routed the Kernels, 12-4, Tuesday night snapping the Kernels' 10-game winning streak against the Bees. The Midwest League game played before a crowd of 2,924 at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Burlington (15-17 second half, 37-65) salvaged the finale of the four-game series against the Kernels (16-16, 58-43). The Kernels won the season series, 12-4. Light-hitting Kevin Reinking had three hits and drove in two runs, and Mike Gaffney and Anibal Figuereo had two hits and drove in three runs apiece to lead Burlington. Reinking came into the game batting .161, Gaffney .166 and Figuereo .146. The Bees were batting just .198 as a team in 15 previous games against the Kernels. They rapped out 13 hits on Tuesday. The Kernels, who were batting .271 against the Bees, managed only five hits and Felix Nunez had two of them. Nunez also scored twice and drove in a run. The Kernels scored two runs without benefit of a hit. Quan Cosby knocked his ninth triple. Nic Touchstone (4-5) was rocked, allowing three hits and six runs (five earned) in 2.2 innings. He walked four, struck out one and threw 73 pitches, 35 for strikes.
SCHMIDT'S GRAND SLAM THE DIFFERENCE
The Suns came back from a 8-3 deficit with 7 runs in the bottom of the eighth to defeat the Shorebirds 10-9. The Shorebirds' Marino Salas grooved a 3-2 pitch down the middle to Jessie Schmidt with the bases loaded that he smacked for a grand slam over the rightfield wall for the lead. The Shorebirds grabbed an early 3-0 lead after a half inning as Nick Markakis knocked in a run with an RBI double. Cory Harris and Mike Russell followed with RBI singles in the inning. Hagerstown battled back with a solo run in the bottom of the second and 2 more runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game up at 3 apiece after three innings. The Shorebirds placed three on the board in the top of the fourth highlighted by Dustin Yount's 2-run bomb that traveled an estimated 425 feet for a 6-3 lead. Delmarva added solo runs in the sixth and eighth to build the lead to 8-3 before the Suns mounted their comeback. The Suns came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth and the Shorebirds watched as seven came into score highlighted on the grand slam by Schmidt. Mike Wagner, Tim Hutting and Brent Swanson all contributed with RBI singles off Josh Potter to put Hagerstown behind by just two setting the stage for Schmidt's heroics. Tim Alvarez picked up his 20th save this year allowing the Birds to chip back to a one run ball agme in the ninth, but holding on for the biggest comeback this year and ending a 6 game losing streak.
BATTLE CATS CAUGHT IN RAIN
Dominic Rich and Aaron Hill drove in three runs to lead the New Hampshire Fisher Cats to a 6-1 win over the New Britain Rock Cats in a rain-shortened five inning affair. Rich had an RBI double in the first inning, and a two-run double in the second. He also scored two runs. Hill knocked in a run in the first inning with a single, and also plated two with a double in the second. Josh Banks improved to 2-4 with the win. He allowed a run on four hits in five innings. Henry Bonilla allowed six runs - five of which were earned - on eleven hits in four innings to suffer the loss. Bonilla fell to 8-6. Jake Mauer knocked in the lone run for the Rock Cats, with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth. New Hampshire (58-44), winners of four straight, have moved into a tie for first place in the Northern Division with Binghamton, who lost to Portland tonight. New Britain sits 9 1/2 games back at 48-53.
BRAVES BEAT BATS
Kenny Kelly's costly error in the top of the fifth inning allowed the deciding run to score in the person of Mike Hessman as the Richmond Braves topped the Louisville Bats, 5-3, on Tuesday night. The Braves broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the fourth inning when Jorge Velandia belted an RBI double to the gap in left center. With one out in the fifth, Hessman poked a single to left centerfield and then stole second base. Ryan Langerhans followed with a base hit of his own and Hessman scored on Kelly's error to give Richmond a two-run advantage. Damon Hollins provided the Braves with insurance with an RBI double later that inning. Robert Stratton went deep to left field for his seventh home run of the season, a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth. Stratton finished the game 2-for-5 with a triple for the Bats. Mike Romano (9-4) picked up the win for the Braves. Romano struck out six in 5 1/3rd innings. Matt Whiteside closed out the game by notching his 26th save of the season. Matt Belisle (7-7) was touched up for five runs on nine hits in 5 1/3rd innings and suffered the loss.
PASCUCCI COLLECTS FIVE RBI IN THE 12TH INNING
Val Pascucci knocked in five runs in the top of the 12th as the Edmonton Trappers exploded for 12 runs in the inning and beat the Memphis Redbirds, 15-3, in extra innings. Edmonton upped its record to 54-49 while Memphis fell to 48-55. Pascucci finished the night 5-for-8 with three doubles and six RBI, including five in the 12th inning. Rick Short went 6-for-8 with three RBI, three runs scored and two doubles while Jorge Toca chipped in with five hits three runs and an RBI for the Trappers. Jeremy Fikac picked up the win out of the bullpen and improved his record to 2-1 with three scoreless innings. Memphis' Josh Pearce took the loss and fell to 3-2. Pearce surrendered one run on two hits and a walk in one inning of work. Evan Rust followed with 1/3rd of an inning and was shelled for 10 runs, five earned, on six hits and a walk. Jason Bowers went 2-for-5 and plated two runs for the Redbirds while Dee Haynes scored twice.
