Durham Bulls 5, Norfolk Tides 4 (10 innings)
Norfolk took the lead in the first on an RBI double by Dariel Alvarez, but Andy Oliver gave it back with three runs surrendered in just three innings of work. Some good relief pitching kept the game from getting out of hand, especially by Michael Zouzalik, who tossed three scoreless innings in his AAA debut.
Unfortunately, the Norfolk bats couldn’t do anything against former Oriole Eddie Gamboa. Once Gamboa left, though, they were able to strike back and send the game to extra innings.
Paul Janish chipped in with an RBI double in the 8th to cut the lead to 4-2. In the bottom of the ninth, an RBI double from Christian Walker and a sac fly by Michael Almanzar knotted the score at four.
The tie didn’t last long. Edgar Olmos took the mound for the tenth and promptly gave up a solo shot to Jake Hager. The Tides went down on three strikeouts in the bottom half of the inning, and that was that.
Most of the Norfolk lineup didn’t do much at the plate, but the exception was Dariel Alvarez. He was the only Tide with multiple hits, and he had four of them.
Akron Rubberducks 6, Bowie Baysox 3 (suspended in the 5th inning)
Brandon Barker allowed five runs in the first inning, but started to settle down after that and made it through the fourth. He wasn’t helped out much by his defense - the Baysox committed four errors.
Henry Urrutia hit a 3-run homer in the bottom of the first to cut the lead to 5-3, but Akron was able to tack on one more run off of Barker in the second. The game was suspended with one out in the top of the 5th and will be picked up on September 2nd.
Potomac Nationals 5, Frederick Keys 4 (11 innings)
Frederick starter Lucas Long allowed two runs in the first inning, but ended up sticking it out for a quality start (6 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 K). Meanwhile, the Keys were able to take a 4-3 lead thanks to RBI singles from D.J. Stewart and Steve Wilkerson, and an RBI double from Josh Hart.
Garrett Cleavinger came on for the seventh, and let the Nationals to tie the game with a triple and a sac fly. That was how the score would remain until the bottom of the eleventh. Genison Reyes walked the leadoff guy, and you know what happens there. Two singles later, Potomac had a walk-off win.
Josh Hart was 3-5 with a double, while Steven Wilkerson and Erick Salcedo each had two hits. Ivan Hernandez had a nice relief appearance, coming in for the 8th and pitching through the 10th with four strikeouts and just one hit allowed.
Lakewood BlueClaws 7, Delmarva Shorebirds 5 (suspended in the 3rd inning)
You don’t see this every day - all eighteen starting position players batted in the first inning. The BlueClaws chased Ofelky Peralta with four runs in the first, and the Shorebirds offense was able to return the favor by tying the game at 4-4 a half inning later.
Cedric Mullins hit a solo shot to give Delmarva the lead in the second, but Lakewood scored three more runs in the top of the 3rd off of Mike Burke. The game was suspended during that inning, and they’ll finish it up today.
Vermont Lake Monsters 8, Aberdeen IronBirds 7
Starter Matthias Dietz gave up two in the first, but that was all he’d allow in his three-inning appearance. The score was 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth until Aberdeen put up five runs in that inning, capped off by a 3-run homer from DH Jason Heinrich.
That lead didn’t last long, as Vermont was able to tie it with four runs in their next trip to the plate. Daniel Ayers surrendered three of them, but only one was earned. The teams traded runs for the next couple of innings, but the Lake Monsters came out on top.
Preston Palmeiro was the offensive star of the day for the IronBirds. He was 3-5 with 2 RBI. Kirvin Moesquit and Austin Hays each had a pair of hits, and Ryan McKenna was 1-3 with two walks and three runs scored.