Cannonballs coming: Holmes, Escobar get back on track

— Clay Holmes recovered from a bad stretch as Indianapolis (20-17) blanked Norfolk on three hits, 6-0. Holmes didn’t exactly fill the strike zone, throwing 51 in 86 pitches, but he walked only two and hit one in six innings. He gave up just two hits and fanned seven. The Indians’ regular outfield (although Austin Meadows was the DH today) provided much of the offense. Meadows was 3-5 with a double, before departing for Pittsburgh. Chris Bostick went 2-5 with his second home run and Jordan Luplow was 2-4 with a pair of doubles and a walk.

Kevin Newman: 1-5
Kevin Kramer: 1-4, BB
Josh Smoker: IP, K

— Altoona (19-17) lost a wild one to Portland, 12-9, in ten innings. The Curve’s bullpen blew a 7-0 lead over the final three innings, falling behind 9-7. Tate Scioneaux, Yeudy Garcia and Geoff Hartlieb each contributed an inning to the collapse, but a Josh Harrison error led to four unearned runs off Hartlieb in the ninth. Logan Hill, who had three RBIs, tied the game with a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth, but Hartlieb gave up three more in the top of the tenth. Harrison played nine innings at second and went 1-5. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit his first home run of the season, finishing 1-4 with two walks and three runs. Elvis Escobar and Jordan George each had three hits. The bullpen meltdown wasted five shutout innings by Taylor Hearn, who gave up four hits and two walks, and fanned five.

Jason Martin: 2-6
Will Craig: 0-4, BB
Stephen Alemais: 0-4, BB

— Luis Escobar (pictured) bounced back from his own rough stretch, allowing one run over seven innings as Bradenton (21-19) beat Daytona, 6-1. Like Holmes, Escobar could have shown better control — he threw 57 of 94 pitches for strikes — but he allowed just three hits while walking three and striking out six. Adrian Valerio went 3-4 and Bligh Madris 2-3 with a double and three RBIs.

Jared Oliva: 1-4
Arden Pabst: 1-4

— Domingo Robles had a strong outing as West Virginia (23-14) beat Lexington, 3-2. Robles gave up two runs, both unearned, over seven innings; the Power’s erratic defense has let him down quite a bit this season. He gave up five hits, walked none and fanned six. Cal Mitchell and Dylan Busby went deep, in each case home run #5. Mitchell went 1-2 with two walks and Busby 1-4. Lolo Sanchez showed some signs of life for the first time in a while, going 2-3 with a double.

Oneil Cruz: 1-3, BB
Deon Stafford: 2-4
Rodolfo Castro: 0-4
Mason Martin: 0-3