=== Daily Dugout Chatter - Saturday, July 31th === (Games from Friday, July 30th)
From The My Sportsbook
DIVINE INTERVENTION FROM POPE
Justin Pope twirled a gem tonight as he tossed a complete game, one-hitter to lead the Trenton Thunder past the Norwich Navigators in a game dominated by pitching. The two teams combined for only two hits in the game. Pope (2-1) lost the no-hitter with two outs in the seventh inning on a single by Michael Cervenak. Pope retired the next batter via strikeout and did not allow another base runner the rest of the game. He issued just one walk on the day and struck out 10 Norwich batters. Three Navigator pitchers combined on a one- hitter but that one hit proved costly as it knocked in the only run Trenton would need. Josh Habel tossed the first two innings, surrendering just one walk, but did not figure in the decision. Mitch Walk (4-7) took over for Habel and cruised through his first two innings but found trouble in the fifth. After walking the leadoff batter, Walk allowed the only hit for the Thunder, an RBI double by Jason Grove. Two batters later Grove came around to score on a wild pitch, completing the scoring. In 4 1/3rd innings, Walk gave up two earned runs on one hit, walked three, and fanned two. Billy Sadler hurled the final 1 2/3rd innings without allowing a base runner to keep Norwich in the game. Grove was the offensive star for Trenton, recording the only hit and lone RBI. On the day, Grove went 1-for-2 with an RBI and one run scored. Craig Wilson walked three times and scored one run.
TODD BRINGS HIS ROD
Todd Dunwoody homered and drove in two runs and Seth Greisinger tossed six strong innings of one-run ball as the Rochester Red Wings defeated the Ottawa Lynx 5-3 in a game cut short due to rain. Dunwoody's two-run bomb in the top of the eight inning gave Rochester a 5-1 lead and proved to be the winning runs. Dunwoody finished 1-for-4 on the day with one run scored. Greisinger (4-3) gave up one earned run on eight hits in his six innings of work to pick up his fourth victory of the year. He walked one and fanned three in the win. Kevin Hodge recorded the final out to pick up his fourth save. Sean Bergman (7-10) gave up three earned runs in 6 1/3rd innings to take the loss for Ottawa. Bergman gave up six hits, walked two, and struck out five in the loss. Brandon Marsters chipped in a 3-for-3 effort with a double, one RBI, and one run scored for the Red Wings. Jack Cust led off the eighth inning with a solo homer, his 15th, that made it 5-2. Chad Mottola scored the third Lynx run on a wild pitch that cut the deficit to 5-3 but the rain came at the wrong time for Ottawa as they called the game with men on second and third and two outs.
BRAVES COME ACROSS MINOR PROBLEM
Ryan Minor's two-run single in the top of the ninth inning lifted the Carolina Mudcats over the Greenville Braves, 9-8 in a Southern League shootout. Minor's single came with one out in the inning and chased home Josh Willingham and Jeff Inglin. Rex Rundgren went 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI in the win. Andy Marte smacked two home runs and drove in three runs for the Braves in the loss. Scott Thorman contributed a home run, while Juan Velazquez went 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI. Carolina's Patrick Flury (2-3) earned the win in 1 1/3rd innings of relief. Randy Messenger saved his 13th game of the year. Greenville's Jamie Emiliano was saddled with the loss. In an inning of work he surrendered two earned runs on a pair of hits and two walks. Emiliano fanned three as he fell to 4-1.
GARRETT DRILLS WICHITA
Shawn Garrett collected three hits and drove in three runs as the Tulsa Drillers pounded the Wichita Wranglers, 10-0, on Friday night. Garrett gave the Drillers a 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning when he smacked a two- run double to right field. The designated hitter added an RBI single in the fifth. Ryan Shealy, Jeff Baker and Juan Piniella each belted home runs for Tulsa, who pounded out 17 hits on the night. Steve Kent was the beneficiary of Tulsa's offensive explosion. Kent (3-1) tossed 2 1/3rd innings of hitless relief and picked up the win. Thad Markray (1-3) was touched up for four runs, three earned, on seven hits in four innings and suffered the loss. Wichita managed just three hits on Friday night and fell to 23-13, but still lead the East Division by 2 1/2 games.
MEMPHIS HAS HART
Chris Prieto's single in the bottom of the ninth inning scored Jason Bowers to lift the Memphis Redbirds over the Edmonton Trappers, 3-2. The Redbirds trailed 2-0 in the seventh before Kevin Witt slammed his sixth home run of the season to cut the lead to one. Bo Hart tied the game in the eighth with his 21st round tripper of the season. Prieto's base knock was his second hit of the game. Al Reyes (2-1) earned the win for Memphis. In one inning of shutout relief he yielded two hits. Edmonton's Jeremy Fikac was saddled with the loss. In just a 1/3rd of an inning, Fikac gave up one unearned run on two hits. He is 2-2 on the year. The Trappers' Val Pascucci drove his 18th home run of the year in the loss.
HISER SCALPS TWINS
PJ Hiser stroked two home runs, including a game-winning two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning in game two of a doubleheader, to power the Burlington Indians past the Elizabethton Twins 8-6 in Appalachian League action Friday night. Elizabethton was victorious in game one 7-6. Hiser went 3-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored to lead the Indians offense. His first homer of the game was also a two-run shot in the third inning that broke a 2-2 tie. Josh Harris (2-0) picked up the win with one perfect inning in relief. Harris fanned two batters in the inning. Kevin Culpepper (0-1) took the loss after allowing the two-out homer to Hiser. Culpepper gave up two earned runs on two hits, walked one, and struck out one batter in the loss. Boodle Clark chipped in his second homer of the season and scored two runs in the win for Burlington. Matt Tolbert hit his second home run of the year and knocked in two runs for the Twins. Tolbert went 1-for-4 and scored one run.
IN A PINCH? CALL CHAZ
Chaz Lytle roped a pinch-hit, two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth inning as the Lynchburg Hillcats rallied to score three runs in the inning as come away with the dramatic 8-7 victory over the Salem Avalanche in Carolina League action Friday night. Lytle came through huge in his only at-bat of the game and finished 1-for-1 with two RBI. Henry Owens (3-1) picked up the win in relief with two scoreless innings. He struck out two batters in his perfect outing. Daniel Freeman (3-2) took the loss after he gave up three earned runs on three hits in just one inning of work. Ray Navarrete contributed a double and three RBI in the win for Lynchburg. He went 1-for-4 in the game and scored one run. Josh Anderson and Mark Saccomanno drove in two runs apiece for Salem. Anderson tripled and went 1-for-5 while Saccomanno doubled and finished 2-for-5. Lynchburg (10-22) has won two in a row while Salem (14-20) lost their second straight.
PCL POUNDING
Peter Zoccolillo, Adrian Gonzalez, and Danny Ardoin each knocked in three runs as the Oklahoma RedHawks routed the Fresno Grizzlies, 13-1 in a Pacific Coast League game. Oklahoma got on the board early with four runs in the first inning. Zoccolillo drove in the first run with an RBI single and was followed by Gonzalez who plated three runs with a double. Jason Conti padded the RedHawks lead with a two-run shot the following inning. Zoccolillo capped another four-run inning with an RBI double in the third inning. The RedHawks finished the rout with three more runs in the ninth. Ardoin drove in two of them with his ninth home run of the season. Jeff Pickler collected two hits and scored three times in the win. Ryan Snare scattered five hits and allowed one earned run over seven innings to earn the win. Snare walked three and struck out four to improve to 9-4. Fresno's Jack Taschner (4-4) was lit up in just two innings. He surrendered ten runs -- nine earned -- on nine hits and three walks. Dave Doster drove in the lone run for Fresno.
