Cannonballs Coming: Strong start for Gage Hinsz

The two rookie level teams were off.

-- Indianapolis (53-50) edged Charlotte, 2-1.  Wilfredo Boscan allowed only two hits in six innings.  He gave up the one run, walked four and struck out two.  The Indians had only six hits, two each by Jason Rogers and Max Moroff.

Josh Bell:  1-3
Alen Hanson:  0-3
Dovydas Neverauskas:  IP, H, 2 K, Sv

-- Altoona (55-45) got all of its runs in sixth inning in a 6-1 win over Akron.  Tyler Eppler allowed one run on three hits in seven strong innings.  He walked three and fanned seven.  Barrett Barnes went 3-3 with a walk, raising his average to .293.  Stetson Allie hit his ninth HR.

Kevin Newman:  0-5
Erich Weiss:  1-3, BB
Harold Ramirez, Reese McGuire:  each 0-4
Eric Wood:  1-2, 2 BB
Edgar Santana:  2 IP, H, 4 K

-- Bradenton (52-46) won the continuation of its game with Daytona from two days ago, 9-7.  Michael Suchy went 3-4 with his sixth HR and three RBIs.  Cole Tucker was 2-4 with a double and a walk.  Stephen Tarpley pitched a scoreless inning before the rains came, although he had trouble throwing strikes.  Austin Coley then got hammered for seven runs in five innings.  Oddly, he struck out eight.

Jordan Luplow:  1-3, 2B
Luis Heredia:  IP, 2 K, Sv

The Marauders got stomped in the regularly scheduled game, 10-3.  Buddy Borden recorded only four outs and allowed seven runs, five earned.  Bradenton had only four hits but failed to take advantage of nine walks.  Connor Joe was 1-3 with a double and a walk.

Tito Polo:  0-4
Kevin Kramer:  1-4

-- Gage Hinsz (pictured) threw six shutout innings in West Virginia's (51-48) 2-0 blanking of Rome.  Hinsz allowed only three hits, walked two and struck out two.  Alfredo Reyes was 4-4.

Casey Hughston:  1-5
Mitchell Tolman:  0-1, 2 BB

-- Morgantown (18-18) lost to Lowell, 5-2, in twelve innings.  They took a 2-1 lead into the ninth, but Brandon Bingle gave up a game-tying HR.  Stephan Meyer, who's struggled mightily this year (hence the 7.89 ERA when the game started), pitched very well, allowing only an unearned run in five innings.  Meyer gave up just two hits and two walks, and struck out three.  Meyer throws a lot of sinkers and, in this game at least, did a very good job of keeping the ball down, getting ten ground outs and one fly out.  Meyer changed speeds effectively, getting a good number of swings and misses on his change.  He also threw a curve that he got over for strikes at times, although the pitch didn't look as sharp as you'd like to see.

The Black Bears undermined their chances early, getting four runners thrown out on the bases in the first three innings.  If the folks in Morgantown figure out how to monetize TOOTBLANs, they won't need the coal industry any more.  The Bears finally broke through in the fifth when Hunter Owen doubled and Will Craig lined out to left for a sac fly.

Craig and Sandy Santos consistently hit the ball hard.  Santos went 3-5 with a double and a walk.  He also reached on an error when the third baseman couldn't come up with a hard-hit grounder, and lined out to first.  Craig went 2-4 and hit the ball on the nose his first four times up.  That included the two hits, both hit hard to left, the sac fly and a hard liner on which the third baseman made a diving grab.  Craig walked and struck out his last two times up.

Craig had trouble in the field.  In the first, on a routine grounder, Craig threw the ball far over first baseman Chris Harvey's head.  Craig's second chance was also a routine grounder and he bounced the throw, but Harvey made the scoop.  On the play that led to the unearned run off Meyer, Craig picked up his second error when a throw to third on a steal attempt got by him.  That let in the run.  Craig also was unable to get the ball out of his glove on an attempt to bunt for a hit.

Arden Pabst:  2-5, 2B
Neil Kozikowski:  2 IP, H, 4 K

-- Bristol (15-15) beat Greeneville, 6-2.  Garrett Brown went 2-4 with a triple and Julio De La Cruz 2-4 with a double.  Matt Eckelman and Adam Oller combined on the win for the second straight time, with Eckelman going five and Oller four, and each allowing one run.  Eckelman gave up four hits and two walks, and struck out three.  Oller gave up three hits and fanned five.

Adrian Valerio:  1-5
Victor Fernandez:  0-4