Playoff Picture
OKC 7.0 up with 12 to play
Quad Cities 2.5 up for 2nd playoff spot with 12 to play
Tri-City 1.5 up with 12 to play
Greeneville 0.5 up with 9 to play
*Corpus and Lancaster have already clinched a playoff berth
Oklahoma City (76-56), 7.0 up
In the first of a crucial five-game series at Round Rock, OKC took a 3-0 lead in the second inning, and didn't give it up, winning 4-2. Ross Seaton threw a strong 5.2IP, 7H/2ER, 4K:0BB. Eric Berger (1.2IP, 3K), Jose Cisnero (0.2IP, 2K:1BB), and Jorge De Leon (1IP) held the Express scoreless over the final 3.1IP.
Rene Garcia was 3x4 with an RBI; Jimmy Paredes hit a solo homer and drew a walk; Jon Singleton was 1x4 with a double, and Che-Hsuan Lin was 1x4 with 2RBI. George Springer was 0x2 with two walks.
Man of the Match: Going with Ross Seaton
Corpus (35-23, 2.0 GB) 77-51 overall
Corpus scored the first three runs of the game and cruised to a 3-1 win over Midland. Luis Cruz threw 6IP, allowing just 2H/1ER, 5K:2BB; Andrew Robinson allowed a hit and struck out three in 2IP; Jonas Dufek gave up two hits in 1IP to lower his ERA at Corpus to 0.56.
Preston Tucker was 2x3 with a walk and two doubles; Raoul Torrez (2B) and Drew Muren (2B, 3B, 2RBI) had two hits each.
Man of the Match: Luis Cruz
Lancaster (35-23, 6.5 up), 74-54 overall
The JetHawks got two in the top of the 2nd inning, but Lake Elsinore responded with three in the bottom half. The JetHawks tied it in the 5th, but Lake Elsinore got the walk-off on a double to left, and a single combined with Dan Gulbransen's fielding error - Lake Elsinore wins 4-3. Aaron West gave up 8H/3ER, 5K:0BB in 5IP; Kenny Long and Gera Sanchez threw 1.2 scoreless innings each, and Blair Walters took the hard-luck loss with 2H/1R (0ER) in 0IP.
MP Cokinos was 3x4 with an RBI; Tyler Heineman was 2x4. Chris Epps had the only extra-base hit, and Brandon Meredith was 1x3 with a walk, stolen base, and RBI.
Man of the Match: MP Cokinos
Quad Cities (33-24, 6.5 GB), 71-55 overall
Quad Cities found themselves down 5-0 before getting on the board, and then found themselves losing 6-1 at the end of the 9th inning. Daniel Minor allowed 5H/3ER, 2K:3BB in 3.2IP; Juan Minaya allowed 4H/3ER, 1K:2BB in 2.1IP; Richard Rodriguez allowed 1H/0ER, 5K:1BB in 3IP.
Rio Ruiz was 2x4 with a double; Jobduan Morales was 2x2, replacing Roberto Pena behind the plate. Jodran Scott was 1x4 with the lone run scored and a stolen base.
Man of the Match: Rio Ruiz
Tri-City (37-25) 1.5 up
Tri-City and Vermont battled through a 2-2 tie through 13 innings. In the top of the 14th, three Tri-City singles and a double resulted in two outfield assists for Vermont, but Ronnie Mitchell was able to double home Tyler White for the winning run in a 3-2 ValleyCat victory. Michael Feliz threw 6IP, 2H/1ER, 3K:1BB; J.D. Osborne allowed 2H/1ER in 1IP; Tyler Brunnemann (2K), Krishawn Holley (2K), and Zach Dando (1H/2BB) each threw two scoreless innings. Gonzalo Sanudo got the save by striking out two in the 14th.
James Ramsay (BB, RBI), Jon Kemmer, Tyler White (HR, BB, RBI) and Brett Booth (2BB) had two hits each. Ronnie Mitchell was 1x5 with two walks.
Man of the Match: Hard to say. How about Tyler White?
Greeneville (34-25, 0.5 up)
Greeneville was down 8-0 before deciding to score some runs with a 6-run 6th inning, but ultimately fell 10-8 in an Elizabethton sweep. Francis Ramirez threw 3IP, allowing 9H/7ER, 3K:2BB; Christian Garcia allowed 3H/3ER, 3K:1BB in 3IP; Ryan Connolly held the Twins to 1H/0ER in 2IP.
Elizabethton's Kohl Stewart made his Appy League debut, striking out eight Gastros in 4IP. Marc Wik was 3x3 with 2BB and 2RBI; Ariel Ovando was 1x3 with a HR, BB, 3RBI; Juan Santana was 0x2 with 3BB. Brian Holberton was 1x3 with two walks.
Man of the Match: Ariel Ovando?
GCL Astros (24-29), 8.0 GB (eliminated)
Carrying a 6-4 lead into the bottom of the 9th against the GCL Yankees1, the Astros gave up three runs for a 7-6 loss. Reymin Guduan allowed 3H/3ER, 5K:1BB in 3.2IP; Juan Santos allowed 3H/1ER, 3K:1BB in 3.2IP; Erick Gonzalez allowed 4H/3R (2ER) in 1IP for the loss.
Jose Fernandez was 2x4 with a homer and 2RBI; Mesac Laguna was 1x4 with a tweo-run homer and 3K. Pedro Coa and Yonathan Mejia each had an RBI. Jacob Nottingham was 1x3 with a walk.
Man of the Match: Jose Fernandez
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
