=== Daily Dugout Chatter - Wednesday, August 18th === (Games from Tuesday, August 17th)

From The My Sportsbook

STARS SHINE BRIGHT

Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks each hit a two-run home run, while Glenn Woolard tossed seven innings of three-hit, shutout ball, as the Huntsville Stars blanked the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, 8-0. Fielder and Weeks also scored a pair of runs in the win, as did leadoff hitter Anthony Gwynn. Brad Nelson and Chris Barnwell added an RBI apiece for the Stars. Woolard struck out eight without issuing a walk to stay perfect, improving to 5-0. His ERA lowered to 2.37. Saul Rivera and John Novinsky tossed a perfect inning each, keeping the shutout intact. Andy Pratt fell to 0-3 with the loss. Pratt allowed seven runs, five earned, on five hits in four innings of work. Adam Greenberg, Aron Weston, and Ronny Cedeno each had a hit for the Diamond Jaxx, who managed just three hits, while committing three errors, on the night.

LUDWICK LEADS BISONS TO SEVENTH STRAIGHT WITH THREE BOMBS

Ryan Ludwick had a tremendous night at the plate as he hit three home runs and knocked in six RBI to lead the Buffalo Bisons over the Pawtucket Red Sox, 13-9 in an International League game. The Bisons (73-52) held off the Pawsox, who put together a late inning rally, to earn their seventh straight victory. The Pawsox fell to 63-61 on the year. Ludwick did most of his damage in the third inning, when he started the inning with a solo blast and closed the eight-run outburst with a three-run home run. Josh Bard chased home two runs in the inning with a double. Ludwick lifted his third round tripper of the game in the eighth inning, to give the Bisons a 13-2 advantage. Buffalo's Kane Davis earned the win with three innings of relief. He surrendered two hits, walked a pair, and struck out four to improve to 2-4. Byung-Hyun Kim was rocked in just three innings. He was touched for eight earned runs on six hits and two walks. Kim is 1-5 on the year.

BROADWAY AND RUNDLES

Rich Rundles tossed six shutout innings and Larry Broadway belted his 20th home run of the season as the Harrisburg Senators nipped the Altoona Curve, 1-0, on Tuesday night. Rundles (3-6) held Altoona to four hits in his six innings. He fanned six and walked four. Jason Stevenson pitched the final three innings in relief to preserve the shutout and earn his first save. Stevenson struck out two. Harrisburg's lone run came off the bat of Broadway in the second inning. The first baseman powered a leadoff homer to right field off of Ian Snell. He finished the game 1-for-4. Snell (10-7) tossed just two innings but was saddled with the loss. Jorge Cortes and Ray Sadler each had a pair of hits in the game for the Curve in the loss.

RYAN AND RYAN

Ryan Shealy hit his 27th home run and Mike Esposito picked up the win as the Tulsa Drillers defeated the Round Rock Express, 5-3, in Texas League play Tuesday night. Tulsa upped its record to 28-24 while Round Rock fell to 27-25. Shealy went 1-for-2 with two walks while Jeff Salazar chipped in with two hits and two runs scored. Juan Piniella went 2-for-4 with two RBI for the Drillers. Esposito (7-6) gave up three runs, two earned, on six hits and two walks over five innings. Ryan Speier tossed a perfect ninth inning with two strike outs and earned his 35th save of the season. Round Rock's Tim McClaskey gave up five runs on eight hits and struck out seven in his seven innings of work. Junior Zamora hit his fifth long ball of the season and finished the night 2- for-4 while Mike Rodriguez collected three hits for the Express.

ALMOST OLMSTEAD

The Peoria Chiefs held off the Dayton Dragons and Walter Olmstead to win 7-6 in their Midwest League match-up. Olmstead went 3-for-3 with two home runs and five RBI but it wasn't enough as Omar Pena scored the winning run on a throwing error by centerfielder Javon Moran. Anthony Monegam went 4-for-5 with a home run and three runs scored for the Chiefs.

DOUBLE DEUCIN' DALLAS

Dallas McPherson smacked two home runs and a pair of triples as he knocked in six RBI to lead the Salt Lake Stingers over the Edmonton Trappers, 13-2 in a lopsided Pacific Coast League affair. McPherson smacked the first of his two triples in the first inning to score a run for the Stingers. Andres Galarraga contributed a two-run home run in the four-run inning. In the fifth, McPherson belted his first home run of the game -- a three-run shot to give the Stingers a 7-2 advantage. He capped his night at the plate with his 17th home run of the season. Casey Kotchman contributed three hits and scored three runs in the win. Jason Middlebrook (7-7) recorded the win for Salt Lake. He allowed two earned runs on nine hits and one walk over eight solid innings. Middlebrook struck out three in the win. Edmonton's Josh Karp was dealt the loss. He was rocked for ten earned runs on eight hits in six innings. Karp is 4-10 on the season. Brendan Harris homered in the loss for the Trappers.

DOPIRAK KEEPS DOIN IT AND DOIN IT AND DOIN IT WELL

Randy Wells tossed six scoreless innings and Brian Dopriak slammed his 36th home run as the Lansing Lugnuts crushed the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, 12-0, in Midwest League play Tuesday night. Wells struck out eight and only allowed four hits while improving his record to 5-6. Dopirak continued his amazing 2004 campaign with another home run and three more RBI, bringing his total to 102 for the season.

NEVERENDING GAME

Timothy Hulett's RBI single in the top of the 23rd inning plated Travis Metcalf with the winning run as the Spokane Indians defeated the Tri-City Dust Devils, 2-1 in a Northwest League game. The game took nearly 24 hours to complete as it was suspended from Monday night. It was Hulett's only hit of the contest. Tri-City's Jose Valdez knocked in the lone run for the Dust Devils. Clayton Jerome (3-3) earned the win for Spokane as he went three innings and struck out four. Efren Lira was dealt the loss for Tri-City as he allowed Metcalf to cross the plate in the 23rd. The Dust Devils Efren Lira went to the plate eleven times to account for the most plate appearances by one player on either team.

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Ryan Howard's home run in the top of the ninth inning gave the Scranton/Wilkes- Barre Red Barons a narrow 8-7 victory over the Syracuse SkyChiefs in an International League game. Howard finished the game 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs and three runs scored. He drilled the first of his two dingers in a four-run eighth inning. Mark Budzinski added a two-run double in the inning, while Pablo Ozuna also knocked a run scoring double. Syracuse's Anthony Sanders went 2-for-5 with a run scored, a home run and three RBI to lead the SkyChiefs offense. Anton French and Chad Hermansen each knocked a home run in the loss. Jim Crowell (7-3) recorded his seventh win of the year with 1 1/3rd innings of relief. He didn't allow a run and struck out one SkyChief batter. Bob File was dealt the loss for the SkyChiefs. In two innings he yielded three earned runs on five hits. File is 2-3 on the season.