doublee

LAKE COUNTY (A, 21-17) 4th place, South Atlantic League
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BRUISED GRASSHOPPERS RALLY TO BEAT CAPTAINS
Captains Pitching Hits Four Greensboro Hitters in 8-5 Loss

(Eastlake, OH)--The Greensboro Grasshoppers rallied from a five-run
deficit Tuesday night, and came back to defeat the Lake County
Captains 8-5 in the opener of a four-game series at Classic Park.

The Grasshoppers (23-15) scored four runs in the sixth inning, taking
advantage of three hit batsmen by Captains reliever Bo Ashabraner
(0-1). Ashabraner hit Brian Cleveland with the bases loaded and two
outs to force in the go-ahead run.

The Captains (21-17) lost a five-run lead for the second straight
night. After taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by
Chad Longworth, the Captains extended the lead to 5-0 with four more
runs in the third on a two-run double by Mike Butia and a two-run
single by Brian Finegan.

Greensboro's Greg Brown launched a three-run homer in the fifth off
Captains starter Justin Hoyman to make it 5-3. Hoyman gave way to
Ashabraner after giving up two hits in the sixth, and the Grasshoppers
rallied to take the lead.

Nate Nowicki (2-2) picked up the win for the Grasshoppers, working two
scoreless innings. Righthander Craig Mobley finished the ninth for his
11th save.

KINSTON (A Advanced, 23-15) 1st place, Carolina League
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SOWERS DOMINATES, INDIANS BLANK NATS 4-0

Jeremy Sowers turned in seven superb innings and Caleb Brock chipped
in with two more RBI as Kinston shutout Potomac 4-0 Tuesday afternoon
at historic Grainger Stadium. A crowd of 2,328 on Lenoir County
Elementary Education Day watched as Kinston improved to 23-15, while
Potomac fell to 19-20.

The afternoon was not without a couple of rough patches for Sowers,
especially in the top of the second in a scoreless game. Sowers walked
Josh Whitesell on five pitches to open the frame, and Salomon
Manriquez followed with a base hit to left to put runners on first and
second with no one out. Sowers came back to strike out Chad Chop
looking however, and then induced an inning-ending 6-4-3 double-play
from Erick San Pedro to get out of the jam. But after Brock's
fielder's choice in the third inning gave Kinston a 1-0 lead, Potomac
mounted another threat in the top of the fifth.

After getting the first out on one pitch, Sowers gave up two singles
and a walk to load the bases with one away. Marcos Yepez lined out to
first baseman Caleb Brock though, and Brock then raced to the bag to
double off Seth Bynum and end the inning. The Indians added an
insurance run in the bottom of the fifth as Luis Cotto led off with a
double, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Anthony Lunetta, and
scored on a groundout by Brock to make it 2-0. Mariano Gomez came out
of the bullpen to work a shaky but scoreless eighth inning, and
Kinston salted it away with two runs in the bottom of the eighth on a
double-play groundout and an RBI single by Ryan Goleski.

Sowers (5-2) now leads the team in wins and was simply outstanding. He
allowed just five hits and two walks over his season-high seven
innings, and struck out six. Gomez walked two batters in his scoreless
inning and Edward Mujica worked a perfect ninth in a non-save
situation. Mike O'Connor (1-6) suffered his second loss in as many
starts against Kinston, even though he worked into the eighth inning
for the first time this year. He allowed four runs (three earned) and
six hits in seven-plus innings. He walked three and struck out four.
Cotto led the offense with two hits and two runs, and Mike Conroy went
2-4. Lunetta singled, walked twice, and scored a run in addition to
his sac bunt.

AKRON AEROS (AA, 22-14) 1st place, Eastern League
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AEROS RALLY FOR 8 RUNS IN FINAL THREE FRAMES
Cooper Smacks 3-Run Homer in the Tenth

Jason Cooper capped an impressive comeback effort with a three-run
homer in the 10th inning, as the Aeros prevailed over the Norwich
Navigators in extras on Tuesday, 8-5, at Dodd Memorial Stadium.
Down by five after the seventh, the Aeros scored eight runs in the
final three frames for their fourth win in five games. The loss was
Norwich's third straight.

After tying the game in the ninth on Jonathan Van Every's sixth home
run of the year -- a solo shot to left field -- Jose Morban and
Franklin Gutierrez hit back-to-back one-out singles off Luke Anderson
(0-1) in the 10th to set the stage for Cooper. His home run to right
was his 10th of the year. The Moses Lake, Wash. native went 2-for-4
with a walk in the contest.

With two shutout innings of relief, right-hander Travis Foley (2-0)
was credited with the win, while Chris Cooper pitched a scoreless
10th, striking out two, for his second save.
The Aero comeback started in the eighth on a two-out grand slam by
Jose Morban off William Sadler. Morban, Gutierrez and Cooper all had
two hits in the contest for Akron.

Carlos Valderrama had RBI doubles in the first and fifth innings, and
the Navigators added a run in the sixth on a solo home run by Dan
Ortmeier. The 24-year-old right fielder also had an RBI groundout in
the first.

The Norwich bullpen trio of Sadler, Alfredo Simon and Anderson
surrendered eight runs in three innings of work and were unable to
close out the game for starter Merkin Valdez, who struck out five in
seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball.

Fausto Carmona started for Akron and gave up five runs on nine hits in
seven innings, but did not factor in the decision.

BUFFALO (AAA, 23-15) 1st place, International League
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BISONS BEAT BATS 5-3
Four-Run 8th Inning Off-Sets Five Double Plays

There's a classic baseball adage that says the double play is the
pitcher's best friend. Tuesday night at Dunn Tire Park, the double
play proved to be just another bump in the road that couldn't slow
down the stampeding Herd.

The Bisons hit into a Modern Era record-tying five double plays yet
still had enough offense to comeback and defeat the Louisville Bats,
5-3. Buffalo strung together five consecutive singles in the 8th
inning to erase an early 3-0 deficit and propel the team to their
fourth straight victory.

The Bisons have now won 13 of their last 16 games for a .813 winning
percentage.

The comeback for the Herd began after the team received a giant scare
in the bottom of the 7th inning. Bisons catcher Ryan Garko was struck
in the helmet with the baseball as he was sliding into second to break
up a double play. Bats shortstop Aaron Holbart released his relay just
a few feet away from Garko and the ball ricocheted off his helmet and
into left field, allowing a run to score. Garko remained motionless
for a few moments before being helped up by Bisons trainer Todd
Tomczyk. The catcher walked off under his own power.

Garko received stitches above his left eye and will be re-evaluated
Wednesday.

With the scare over, the Bisons put the finishing touches on a great
comeback with one out in the bottom of the 8th inning. Trailing 3-1,
Buffalo picked up five consecutive hits starting with singles from Joe
Inglett and Brandon Phillips. Inglett came around to score after Bats
right fielder Pedro Swann dropped a single from John Rodriguez. Mike
Kinkade then tied the score at 3-3 with an RBI-single to left. Jody
Gerut followed with the game-winning hit before Wathan, who came on
for Garko, provided the insurance run with an RBI-ground out.

The late rally helped the Bisons off-set a Modern-Era record-tying
five double plays. The Herd hit into a twin-killing in each inning
from the 3rd to the 7th, stalling earlier efforts to come back from
Louisville's early 3-0 lead.

The five DP's equal a mark set four other times by Buffalo, the latest
being April 17, 2002 in Ottawa.

Kazuhito Tadano (1-0) earned the victory for the Bisons with two
innings of shutout relief. Andrew Brown pitched a scoreless 9th for
his second save of the year. Francisco Cruceta was also solid for
Buffalo, allowing just three runs on six hits while striking out four
in six innings of work.

BISONS NOTES: Gerut finished the game 3-4 with a double. He has now
reached safely in 22 of his last 34 plate appearances (.647 on-base
percentage)…Andy Abad had a great night in the field for the Herd.
Playing left field, Abad made a pair of catches at the wall and also
threw out a runner trying to score from second on a single…Tadano
stuck out the side in the 8th inning…Prior to the game, the Cleveland
Indians announced that they had signed Mike Bell to be a player/coach
for the Buffalo Bisons. Bell, son of former Major League player and
manager Buddy Bell, played professional baseball for parts of 13
seasons.