GCL Pirates �4, �GCL Phillies �3 — Game 1 (box)
Three late inning rallies gave the Pirates the win, as LF Exicardo Cayonez started his perfect afternoon. �Cayonez went 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. �The Phillies began the scoring with 2 runs in the 2nd inning. �Starter Joan Montero gave up a 2-out single, then a stolen base and a wild pitch advanced the runner to third base. �A single drove in that runner, then a walk, a wild pitch, a passed ball, and a balk brought in the second run. �A walk, a stolen base, and a single brought in another run in the 6th inning, off Yeyber Sanchez.
Cayonez had his first single to lead off the 2nd inning, but was picked off first base moments later. �He led off the 5th with another single, and scored on a wild pitch and an RBI single by C�Joey Schoenfeld. The Pirates tied the game in the bottom of the 6th inning, when CF Junior Sosa took a turn at leading off with a single, then stole second base. �RF Gregory Polanco doubled, scoring Sosa, and Cayonez rapped his third single to drive in Polanco.
Jarryd Sullivan pitched a scoreless top of the 7th for the Pirates, allowing only a walk, to preserve the tie. �In the bottom of the frame, Schoenfeld singled and moved to second base on 1B Dylan Child’s sacrifice bunt. �Pinch-hitter Jorge Bishop worked a walk, then Sosa slipped a single into left field. �Schoenfeld rounded second and headed for the plate, but was thrown out at home on the throw in from left field. �Bishop advanced to third base on the play, and he was able to score on a wild pitch, to give the Pirates’ the walk-off win.
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GCL Pirates �8, �GCL Phillies �4 � — Game 2 (box)
Both teams had a big inning in the second game, but the Pirates’ was bigger — and they also had Exicardo Cayonez, who went 4-for-4 in this game for a perfect 7-hit afternoon. �CF Starling Marte began this game with a single, and he stole second base. �He scored on a single, and Cayonez also doubled in the inning — his only extra-base hit of the day. �Cayonez singled in the 4th inning, but was eliminated in a double play.
Pirates’ starter Joely Rodriguez retired the first 10 batters he faced, but when he started letting batters on, it came in a flood. �A single, a stolen base, and throwing errors by Marte and C Elias Diaz on the stolen base attempt brought in the first run. �Then Rodriguez made a throwing error on a ball back to the mound, putting another runner on base. �A double, two singles, and an RBI grounder brought in 3 more runs, giving the Phillies a 4-1 lead.
The Pirates came roaring back in the top of the 5th. �SS Kevin Mort started the fun with a single, and after an out, Sosa also singled. �Pinch-hitter Ping-Hung Chi replaced Marte, and he worked a walk to load the bases. �Singles by 2B Jorge Bishop and Diaz drove in a run each. �A wild pitch brought in Chi, then Cayonez’ third hit of the game, another single, plated Bishop and Diaz, giving the Pirates a 6-4 lead. �The Pirates added a run in the 6th, on Mort’s double and Sosa’s RBI single. �Their final run came in the top of the 7th, when Bishop walked and moved to second base on a balk. �A ground out advanced him to third base, and Diaz’s ground out brought Bishop in with the final run. �Cayonez followed that with his 7th hit of the day.
Rodriguez earned the win with 5 innings of work, allowing those 4 runs (one earned) on 4 hits, no walks, with one strikeout. �Yerfi Taveras pitched two perfect innings to finish the game and earn his first save. �Starling Marte went 1-for-2 in the game.
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Binghamton Mets �11, �Altoona Curve �6 (box)
It was a tough night for Curve starter Tim Alderson, who could not get out of the 4th inning. �He suffered his 5th loss of the season, allowing 8 runs on 9 hits and 3 walks. �A double, a walk, and a single brought in the Mets’ first run with only one out recorded in the top of the 1st. �Alderson gave up another walk, but got two strikeouts to end the inning. �The 2nd inning brought more trouble, though, as Alderson gave up a single and a walk, followed by back-to-back home runs, and the Mets had a 5-0 lead. �A line-out double play at first base by Miles Durham got Alderson through the 3rd inning without a run scoring.
Then came the 4th inning. �A double and two singles, complicated by a throwing error by 3B Josh Harrison brought in one run, and put runners on second and third with no outs. �At that point, Alderson was relieved by Tony Watson. Watson got a strikeout, then gave up a double, bringing in two runs, both charged to Alderson. �Two fly outs ended the inning, with the Mets ahead 8-0.
The Curve had been held hitless for the first three innings. �The only batter to reach base was RF Anthony Norman, who was hit by a pitch, but then was erased in a double play. �A walk by SS Chase d’Arnaud and back-to-back singles by Harrison and C Hector Gimenez, along with a fielding error in left field, brought in d’Arnaud in the 4th inning. �2B Jordy Mercer’s sacrifice fly scored Harrison. �Durham singled and Norman walked to load the bases for the Curve, but a fly out ended the inning. �Mets still ahead, 8-2.
The Curve batted around in the 6th inning, to score 4 runs. �Mercer was hit by a pitch and Durham walked. �Norman and LF �Yung Chi Chen both singled, and both drove in a run. �D’Arnaud loaded the bases when he was hit by a pitch, and CF Gorkys Hernandez collected an RBI with a single into right field, plating Norman. �Harrison scored Chen with a sacrifice fly for the 4th run, bringing the Curve to 9-6.
Tony Watson gave up a run in the 5th, on a hit batter, a single, a sacrifice bunt, and a sacrifice fly. �Then he retired the side in order in the 6th. �Mike Dubee pitched two scoreless innings. �He worked around a single in the 7th, then got into a jam in the 8th, with two singles and a walk to load the bases with one out. �He induced a double play with a grounder to short, and the 6-4-3 (d’Arnaud to Mercer to Durham) ended the inning without a run scoring.
Anthony Claggett pitched the 9th inning for the Curve. �He loaded the bases on a walk and two singles, then gave up a 2-out single that drove in 2 runs, to bring the Mets’ total to 11 runs.
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Bradenton Marauders �9, �Palm Beach Cardinals �0 (box)
Well, make that one double header, and one short game with a rain-out of the second. �The Marauders got the first game in (7 innings) but the second had to be postponed again. �The Marauders lived up to their name in this game, which the Cardinals were probably happy to have end after only 7 innings. �Aaron Pribanic held the Cardinals to just 2 hits and 2 walks in his 5 innings, earning his 5th win of the season. �He retired the side in the 1st inning, then worked around one runner on base, either from a single or a walk, in each of the next 4 innings. �He also struck out 5 batters. �Tyler Cox relieved Pribanic to begin the 6th. �He gave up a walk and a single to start the inning, then struck out the next three batters, all swinging. �In the 7th, he hit a batter and gave up a single, mixing in another strikeout, then got two grounder force outs to finish the inning.
Meanwhile, the Marauder offense was having their way with the Cardinal’s pitching staff. �Each member of the lineup reached base at least once, and LF Quincy Latimore and 1B Calvin Anderson each had two hits. �They each drove in a run in the 3rd inning, which began with a walk by SS Greg Picart. A fielding error put Picart on third base and 2B Jose De Los Santos on first, and De Los Santos promptly stole second base. �Latimore’s sacrifice fly brought in Picart, and Anderson’s RBI single plated De Los Santos.
The real marauding took place in the 5th inning, as Bradenton sent 11 batters to the plate. �Back-to-back singles by Picart and De Los Santos began the rally, and a throwing error by the Cardinals’ first baseman let Picart score (1st run) and left De Los Santos on third base. �LF Robbie Grossman’s sacrifice fly brought in De Los Santos (2), but an fielding error in left field put Grossman safe on second base, and there were still no outs. �Grossman went to third on a wild pitch. �Singles by Latimore and Anderson drove in Grossman (3), and a grounder force out by 3B Adam Davis scored Latimore (4). �RF Austin McClune walked, giving the Marauders runners on first and second, now with one out. �C James Skelton doubled, scoring Davis (5), and DH Erik Huber singled, scoring both Davis and Skelton (6 and 7). �A fly out and a ground out ended the inning, but the Marauders had a 9 run lead. �They threatened again in the 6th, loading the bases on a double by Grossman, a hit batter (Latimore) and a walk to Davis. �A pop out and a ground out ended the inning without any more runs scoring.
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State College Spikes �5, �Hudson Valley Renegades �4 (box)
SS Gift Ngoepe was the hero in the 10th inning, with his walk-off single that gave the Spikes the win. �After 4.5 innings of a 4-4 tie, RF�Justin Bencsko opened the bottom of the 10th with a double into center field. �3B�Kelson Brown grounded out, moving Bencsko to third. �The Renegades intentionally walked both pinch-hitter Matt Skirving and CF�Kyle Saukko, bringing up Ngoepe. �That was a mistake, as Ngoepe looped a single into right field, scoring Bencsko.
The Spikes had cracked the scoreboard first, with 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st. �Ngoepe walked, 2B Walker Gourley singled, and LF Adalberto Santos doubled, bringing in Ngoepe. �Gourley tried to score from first, but was cut down at home on the throw (by the Renegades’ RF Burt Reynolds). �Moments later, DH Chase Lyles scored Santos with a triple.
The Renegades came right back with a solo home run in the top of the 2nd, then 3 runs in the 3rd. �Quinton Miller, in his first game with the Spikes after some time on the injury list, pitched 2.2 innings, and was responsible for all 4 of the runs. �He gave up two singles, a double, a sacrifice fly, and a hit batter, for two runs in the 3rd before being relieved by Kevin Decker. Decker walked the next batter, and threw a wild pitch, allowing another run to score (charged to Miller). �Decker went on to pitch 5 more scoreless innings, retiring 9 batters in order, before giving up a double in the 7th and a single in the 8th. �He struck out 6 batters in his 5.1 innings.
Triples helped the Spikes tie the game with a run in each of the 4th and 5th innings. �Bencsko tripled to begin the 4th, and he scored on Brown’s RBI single. �Gourley tripled in the 5th, and he scored on a throwing error. �The Spikes put at least one runner on base in all but one of the next 4 scoreless innings, but could not push across a run. �Decker and Jason Townsend kept the Renegades from scoring to preserve the tie. �Townsend pitched 2 innings, allowing only a single. �That brought the Spikes and Gift Ngoepe to the 10th inning for the walk-off win.
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