=== Daily Dugout Chatter - Saturday, July 3rd === (Games from Friday, July 2nd)
From The My Sportsbook
FRANCIS POWERS DRILLERS; WINS TWELFTH
The Jeff Francis show continued in Midland Friday night with 7 2/3rd scoreless innings as the Tulsa Drillers defeated the RockHounds, 4-1, in Texas League action. Tulsa improved its record to 5-4 while Midland fell to 2-7. Francis upped his record to 12-1 by striking out 10 and only allowing four hits and two walks. His ERA is now 2.11 on the season. Ryan Speier pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his 26th save of 2004. Leadoff hitter Tony Miller went 4-or-5 with an RBI and Jeff Winchester walked twice, scored one and plated one for the Drillers. Midland's Brad Weis took the loss and fell to 4-8. Weis surrendered four runs, three earned, on five hits and walked five. Jon Weber collected two hits and knocked in Midland's only run of the night.
DOUBLEDAYS WIN EIGHTH IN A ROW
Erik Kratz's two-run double in the top of the twelfth inning lifted the Auburn Doubledays to a 5-2 win over the Mahoning Valley Scrappers and their eighth straight victory in New York-Penn League action on Friday night. Auburn took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning, but Mahoning Valley cut the lead to a run on Christopher Gimenez's RBI single, then tied the game when Argenis Reyes scored a Wyatt Toregas RBI ground out. Kratz gave the Doubledays a 4-2 lead with one out in the 12th with a double off of Mark Harris. Kratz then scored on an error by Brett Parker. Kristian Bell (2-0) picked up the win in three and 2/3rd innings of hitless relief. Harris (1-2) suffered the loss. Auburn will look to extend their winning streak Saturday against Batavia. They have not lost since June 24th.
FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
Scott Walter had an unbelievable night at the plate going 5-for-6 with a home run and four RBI to lead the Wichita Wranglers past the El Paso Diablos, 16-10 in a wild Texas League contest. The Wranglers got at least one RBI from each batter in their lineup in the game. Walter started the scoring for the Wranglers with a two-run single in the first inning. Leading 5-2 after the third inning, Wichita hitters put seven runs on the board to put the game out of reach. Ruben Gotay started the rally with an RBI single and was followed by a Brandon Berger run scoring single and Justin Gemoll sacrifice fly. The Wranglers plated four more runs in the inning to put the game out of reach at 12-5. Mike Tonis went 4-for-5 with two runs scored, three doubles and three RBI in the win. The Diablos got their share of hitting as well as Chris Snyder went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a home run. Sergio Santos contributed a 2- for-4 effort with a double and a triple in the loss. Wichita's Mike Natale earned the win to improve to 6-2. Matt Chico was absolutely rocked in three innings. He yielded eight earned runs on twelve hits. Chico is now 0-2 on the season.
HOME RUN DERBY
Jhonny Peralta, Eric Crozier and Sandy Martinez each belted two home runs as the Buffalo Bisons spanked the Syracuse Sky Chiefs, 16-2, on Friday night. Peralta and Crozier smacked three-run jacks in the third inning to give the Bisons a 6-0 advantage. Buffalo tacked on two in the fifth before they erupted for five more runs in the fifth inning courtesy of home runs by Brent Abernathy, Martinez and Peralta. Chris Baker was assaulted for six runs, three earned, on six hits in three innings and suffered the loss. Baker (0-11) has yet to win a game this season. Francisco Cruceta held the Sky Chiefs to two runs, one earned, on six hits in six innings and picked up the win. He is 2-0. Jake Robbins converted his first save of the year by tossing the final three innings of the game. The weekend series continues Saturday night at 6:05 PM (ET).
TWO GAMES IN ONE
Habelito Hernandez poked an RBI single to left field and plated Walter Olmstead to lift the Dayton Dragons to a 7-6 win over the South Bend Silver Hawks in an epic 18-inning game in the Midwest League on Friday night. Dayton took a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning, but Miguel Montero gave the Silver Hawks a 6-5 advantage with a two-run homer off of Justin Gillman. Luis Bolivar tied the game in the top of the ninth with a sacrifice fly that brought Will Hudson home. The game would not be decided for another nine innings. Finally, in the top of the 18th, with a runner on second and two outs, Hernandez slapped the game-winning hit to give Dayton the lead. Jan Granado pitched out of a jam in the bottom of the 18th to record the save. Carlos Bohorquez (2-0) tossed three innings and picked up the win. Alexander Cremidan (1-1) suffered the loss. The marathon game lasted five hours and 33 minutes.
STARS SHINE IN EXTRA INNINGS
Brad Nelson's RBI single in the bottom of tenth inning broke a 5-5 tie and propelled the Huntsville Stars over the Mobile Baybears, 6-5. Anthony Gwynn started the 10th when he was hit by a pitch and proceeded to steal second. The Baybears then chose to intentionally walk Prince Fielder which made way for Nelson's heroics. Nelson sent a Jack Cassel offering to centerfield to score Gwynn with the winning run. Jamie Gann and Chris Barnwell each went deep for the Stars in the win. Rico Washington was responsible for tying the game in the eighth when he singled home Kennard Jones. Greg Sain, Ben Johnson and Steve Morales all went yard for the Baybears in the loss. For Sain it was his Southern League Leading 23rd home run. John Novinsky (6-0) earned the win in relief for Huntsville. He didn't allow a run over one inning of work. Cassel (2-1) was handed the loss after allowing the winning run to cross the plate in the tenth.
CURVE DO IT ALL IN THIRD STRAIGHT WIN
Ray Sadler knocked in three runs and Mike Connolly pitched six scoreless innings as the Altoona Curve blanked the Harrisburg Senators, 9-0, in Eastern League action Friday night. Altoona has now won eight of their last ten games and improved their record to 50-31. Harrisburg fell to 27-54. Sadler hit his 13th home run of the season and finished the night 2-for-5. Josh Bonifay went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, two RBI and he hit his 15th dinger of the year for the Curve. Ronny Paulino plated two runs and Chris Duffy scored twice in the win. Connolly (7-4) gave up seven hits and struck out seven in the win. Mike Crudale and Jeff Miller combined to pitch three scoreless innings to preserve the shutout. Harrisburg's David Maust did not make it out of the second inning and fell to 1-3 with the loss. Maust surrendered five runs on four hits and three walks in 1 1/3rd innings of work. Josh Labandeira was the only Senator to collect a multiple hit night.
HOME OF THE BRAVES
Leadoff hitter Adam Stern paced the Greenville attack with three runs scored and three RBI as the Braves beat the Jacksonville Suns, 9-6, in Southern League action Friday night. Greenville improved its record to 8-1 while Jacksonville fell to 3-7. Stern went 4-for-4 with a home run, his sixth of the year. Tony Pena finished the night 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI for the Braves, who won their fifth straight game. Zach Minor tossed six innings to pick up the win and improve his record to 5-7. He allowed five runs on nine hits and walked three. Jacksonville's Brian Steffek took the loss and fell to 2-4. Steffek gave up four runs, three earned, on four hits over two innings of work. Edwin Bellorin hit two doubles and knocked in two runs for the Suns.
