=== Daily Dugout Chatter - Tuesday, August 24th === (Games from Monday, August 23rd)
From The My Sportsbook
2-FOR-RUIZ
Carlos Ruiz slammed two home runs including the game winner in the bottom of the ninth as the Reading Phillies edged the New Britain Rock Cats, 7-6, in Eastern League action Monday night. Reading upped its record to 55-73 while New Britain fell to 60-65. With the score knotted at 6-6, Ruiz led off the ninth and took Travis Bowyer deep to left field for his second home run of the evening and his 15th of the season. Ruiz got the Phils on the board in the first with another solo shot. John Castellano hit his 16th of the season and finished the night 2-for-3 with two RBI and raised his average to .342 for Reading. Hayden Gardner picked up the victory and improved his record to 1-0. Gardner gave up one hit and struck out one over 1 2/3rd innings. Bowyer (4-3) gave up two runs on two hits in an inning of work and took the loss for New Britain. Tommy Watkins crushed his fourth home of the season and finished the night 2- for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored for the Rock Cats.
CHACIN KEEPS ON ROLLIN
Eric Crozier knocked in four runs while Russ Adams and Guillermo Quiroz plated three apiece as the Syracuse SkyChiefs defeated the Rochester Red Wings, 13-6, in the International League Monday night. Syracuse upped its record to 58-73 while Rochester fell to 65-66. Crozier collected three hits including two doubles and scored twice. Quiroz hit his eighth home run and finished the night 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Julius Matos hit his fifth long ball for the SkyChiefs. Gustavo Chacin picked up the win in his first Triple-A start after tearing up the Eastern League with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Chacin gave up three runs, two earned, on seven hits and struck out six in five innings of work. Rochester's JD Durbin took the loss and evened his record at 2-2. Durbin was absolutely shelled for ten runs on nine hits and three walks in just two innings of service. Luis Rodriguez went a perfect 5-for-5 with two RBI and one run scored for the Red Wings.
CUBS' CLOSER CAN'T RECORD AN OUT
Emil Brown knocked in five runs and Jason Alfaro scored three more as the New Orleans Zephyrs defeated the Iowa Cubs, 9-6, in Pacific Coast League action Monday night. New Orleans upped its record to 59-71 while Iowa dropped to 73-55. The Zephyrs jumped all over Iowa starter Joe Borowski, who is on Major League Rehab assignment for the Cubs, for four runs in the first inning. Alfaro got New Orleans on the board first with a RBI single and Brown capped off the inning with a two-run base hit of his own. Chris Burke went 2-for-3 with an RBI and scored a run while Phil Hiatt scored twice for the Zephyrs. Chris Enochs picked up the win and upped his record to 5-8. Enochs allowed two hits and struck out six in five scoreless innings. Russ Springer recorded the final out of the game and earned his fifth save. Borowski, who was the closer for last year's NL Central Division Champions, could not record an out while giving up four runs and is now 0-2 with a 21.60 ERA in two appearances. Calvin Murray tripled and knocked in two runs for the Cubs.
APPY MVP?
Mitch Einerston hit two home runs and scored three times as the Greeneville Astros crushed the Elizabethon Twins, 12-0, in Appalachian League play Monday night. Einerston hit his league-leading 21st and 22nd home runs, both solo shots. Jose Acosta slammed his second of the season and finished the night 3- for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Jordan Parraz (3) and Bryan Triplett (1) chipped in with one home run apiece. Parraz also scored three runs while Triplett scored two and plated two more for the Astros. Juan Gutierrez (7-2) gave up seven hits, two walks and struck out five in seven shutout innings. Einerston also leads the league in RBI with 60.
PINTO ROLLS OVER BISCUITS
Reynel Pinto tossed seven shutout innings, and the West Tenn bullpen preserved the shutout, as the Diamond Jaxx downed the Montgomery Biscuits, 5-0. Pinto allowed just four hits, and improved to 11-8. He struck out seven and walked three. Russ Rohlicek and Jamie Van Buren each tossed a scoreless inning. Van Buren struck out two. Joshua Arteaga and Adam Greenberg each drove in two runs in the win for West Tenn. Matt Parker suffered the loss and dropped to 1-5. Parker allowed just one run on five hits in 4 2/3rd innings. He struck out two and walked four. Vince Harrison went 3-for-3 in the loss, as the Biscuits fell to 21-35.
EIGHT STRAIGHT FOR SHOREBIRDS
Jason Fransz hit his fourht home run of the season while Christopher Britton won his eight game as the Delmarva Shorebirds beat the Hickory Crawdads, 6-2, and won their eighth straight game. Fransz took Hickory starter Yoann Torrealba deep to center field in the bottom of the second giving the Shorebirds a 2-0 lead. Jarod Rine scored twice and knocked in another in the win. Britton gave up one run on three hits and struck out five over six innings and upped his record to 8-3.
LOTTA BIG #'S FOR THE 'TOPES
Joe Dillon and Matthew Padgett both homered and drove in four runs apiece, leading the Albuquerque Isotopes to a 14-9 win over the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Dillon had a monster night, going 3-for-4, with a grand slam highlighting am eight-run sixth inning, and also scored four runs. Padgett hit a three-run bomb in the eighth inning and had an RBI single in the fourth. Mike Colangelo added a 3-for-4 performance, all doubles, and drove in three runs. Ryan Jorgeson added chipped in with a two-run homer. Justin Wayne picked up the win and improved to 1-3. In five innings, he allowed three runs on seven hits, struck out five and walked four. Hector Almonte was rocked in 2/3rds of an inning. He allowed seven runs on six hits, falling to 3-2 on the year. The SkySox may have been outdone, but Shawn Garrett sure wasn't. Garrett went 4-for-5 with two home runs, three RBI, and two runs scored. Clint Barmes added three hits, including a solo home run, and drove in two in the loss.
RIDE NOT-SO ROUGH FOR FRISCO IN EL PASO
Jason Bourgeois collected three hits and knocked in five RBI to lead the Frisco RoughRiders past the El Paso Diablos, 13-8. Winners of four straight, the RoughRiders (36-22) now own a 4 1/2 game lead over Wichita in the East, while the last-place Diablos dropped to 20-36. Bourgeois got Frisco on the board in the second with an RBI single. The Diablos struck back with three in the bottom of the inning to take a 3-1 lead. Mike DiRosa homered for El Paso to spark the three-run outburst. Edgar Gonzalez and Tydus Meadows each plated a run in the following frame to knot the score at three. Bourgeois did most of his damage in the fifth stanza when the RoughRiders put five runs up on the board. His three-run double gave them an 8-3 lead they would not relinquish. Rick Asadoorian went a perfect 5- for-5 with four runs scored in the win. John Hudgins (5-3) was solid over seven innings to earn the win. He surrendered three runs -- two earned -- five hits, walked one, and struck out two. Marland Williams added his eighth home run of the season in the defeat. Bill Murphy allowed eight runs -- only three earned -- on twelve hits and two walks in 4 2/3rd innings. He fell to 2-2.
