Syracuse wins in extras; Lansing lose early, and late:; and Dunedin go cruising. MacDonald, Thigpen and Griffin are your stars du jour.
Toledo 3 Syracuse 4 - 11th inning
When Andy Dominique was called up to the Blue Jays on Monday the Chiefs signed Joe DePastino to fill in. Just as Ken Huckaby has come through for the Jays DePastino came through for the Chiefs in the eleventh inning yesterday when he singled to score John Ford Griffin who had led off the eleventh with a single. The win was a big one for the Chiefs after they allowed Toledo to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. This was after Wednesday's game when the Chiefs also allowed Toledo to tie the game in the ninth, and Toledo eventually won. Marty Pevey is probably anxious for his closer Matt Whiteside to get back to saving games.
Francisco Rosario started the game and for five innings he was in control. Chris Shelton gave him trouble with a first inning home run and a fourth inning single but those were the only two Mudhen hits through five. But with one out in the sixth Rosario looked to have struck out Shelton on a pitch down the middle. The umpire called it a ball and Rosario fell apart after that. First he hit Shelton. Then , with two outs, Rosario walked two batters to load the bases and a balk scored the second Mudhen run. Another walk re-loaded the bases. Marty Pevey came out to remove Rosario and at the same time share some observations with the home plate umpire. Pevey was ejected and Rosario threw his hat and glove into the stands as he left. Chalk this one up to another learning experience for the young pitcher. Chris Baker got the last out of the sixth and the Chiefs escaped the inning with a 3-2 lead. Syracuse had taken the lead with two runs in the third inning on doubles from Aaron Hill and Gabe Gross, followed by a single from John Ford Griffin. The Chiefs scored a potential insurance run in the fifth when Eric Crozier tripled and Hill singled him home. Chris Baker pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth and passed it over to Spike Lundberg for the ninth. Mike Hessman greeted Spike with a home run to lead off the ninth and tie the game.
The Chiefs had ten hits in the game, three of them by Aaron Hill who pushed his average to .336. Griffin and Julius Matos had two hits each.
Game StoryNew Hampshire - Scheduled Day Off
Palm Beach 3 Dunedin 9
Dunedin scored six unanswered runs in the first three ininngs and cruised to a 9-3 win. Dunedin scored two in the first on singles by Jayce Tingler, Adam Lind and Robinzon Diaz. Ryan Roberts hit a three run home run in the second and Clint Johnston doubled and scored on a single by Joey Reiman in the third.
Michael MacDonald had his best start in a while, 7.2 innings, two runs, one earned, on five hits and a walk. Brad Mumma finished up. Dunedin had 12 hits, Tingler, Roberts, Lind and Reiman had two hits each. Lind's batting average is at .301.
Game 1 - Lansing 2 Burlington 3
Game 2 - Lansing 2 Burlington 3
The Lugnuts were outscored by two runs in two games but came away empty handed when the bullpen lost the split in the seventh inning of the second game. In game one Kyle Yates had a rough beginning; in the first inning of game one, two doubles and a home run put Lansing down 3-0 after one. Lansing had a few chances to get back in it, they had two on with one out in the second but David Corrente lined into a double play. Curtis Thigpen tripled with two out in the third but was stranded. The Lugnuts bunched three hits in the fifth to score a couple. Singles by Cory Patton and Juan Peralta were followed by a Thigpen double. Lansing only recorded one walk in 2 and a third innings after that and lost a close game 3-2. Yates pitched a six inning complete game, allowing eight hits with six strikeouts. Thigpen and Patton had two hits each.
Chi-Hung Cheng had a pretty typical start in game 2. He lasted five innings and allowed just one unearned run on four hits, a walk and a hit batter. Lansing scored twice in the third inning, Joey Wolfe singled, Juan Peralta reached when Burlington messed up his sacrifice attempt, and Ryan Klosterman singled to load the bases with no-one out. Curtis Thigpen walked to score the first run and Eric Nielsen singled to drive in the second, but the three remining baserunners were stranded as three Lugnuts failed to score a runner. That miss came back to haunt the Lugnuts later on. Joey McLaughlin pitched a scoreless sixth and Danny Hill came on in the seventh to try and save the split for the Lugnuts. Hill got the first two outs but then an infield single, a hit batter, and two more singles lost the game. Nielsen was 2-4 and Thigpen 0-1 with three walks.
Thigpen was hitting .256 at the end of April with an OPS of .694. May has seen an improvement as he is now hitting .284 and his OPS is .812. By a process of deduction I can figure that Thigpen is hitting .342 for May, with an OPS of 1.131 . As we saw with Adam Lind we cannot get too excited by a hot streak, but it is good to see Thigpen heat up.
Game StoryYour Three Star Selection
Third star - John Ford Griffin two hits, drove in a run and scored the winner
Second Star - Curtis Thigpen 2 hits and 3 walks
First Star - Michael MacDonald 7.2 innings, one earned run
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