Zach Cooper (Central Michigan) helped the Waterloo Bucks beat the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters by a score of 6-0 on Sunday. Cooper threw 8.0 innings of shutout baseball while only giving up four Rafters hits. Cooper improved his record to 2-3 with a 2.94 ERA. Steven Florez (New Mexico) of the Eau Claire Express also threw a great game while he earned the win. Florez threw 8.0 innings of two run baseball.
Rochester 7, Thunder Bay 1 The Rochester Honkers defeated the Thunder Bay River Cats 7-1 recording back-to-back wins to start the second half. Behind starter Mike Strong (Oklahoma State) the Honkers pitching staff shut down the River Bats surrendering just one run. Strong pitched 7.0 innings allowing just one run on four hits while collecting six strikeouts.
Kyle Gaedele (Valparaiso) led the Madison Mallards to victory Saturday night over the Wisconsin Woodchucks. Gaedele was 4-for-6 with two runs scored, a RBI and a walk. Gaedele is currently hitting .322 in 35 games with 13 extra base hits. Rafael Lopez (Florida State) also had a great day at the plate going 2-for-6 with five RBI and two runs scored for the Mallards.
Mike Strong (Oklahoma State) continued his great pitching for the Rochester Honkers by throwing a gem against the Thunder Bay Border Cats. Strong, who leads the league in strikeouts, threw 7.0 innings of four hit baseball while striking out six. Strong is currently 3-1 in 34 innings pitched. Strong was drafted in the 2009 MLB Draft in the 25th round by the Chicago White Sox.
Rochester 6, Thunder Bay 3 The Rochester Honkers pounded out 14 hits and used a great pitching performance from Rochester native, Josh McKeon (Upper Iowa), to beat Thunder Bay 6-3. McKeon threw 6.0 innings of four hit baseball to improve his record to 3-1.
J.R. Graham (Santa Clara) of the Madison Mallards earned the win and had the game winning hit against the Wisconsin Woodchucks on Friday night. Graham threw a scorless tenth inning to earn the win and drove in Kyle Gaedele with the game winning RBI. Josef Terry of Rochester had a four hit performance against the Thunder Bay Border Cats.
Rudy Jaramillo improved his record to 2-1 on the season for the Eau Claire Express while he helped beat the Green Bay Bullfrogs 9-0. Jaramillo threw 7.0 innings of scoreless baseball while only giving up two hits. The lefty currently has a 1.29 ERA in 28 innings pitched. Jared Wagoner (Butler) of the Waterloo Bucks also threw a great game.
St. Cloud 5, Alexandria 4 It took eleven innings for the St. Cloud River Bats to beat the Alexandria Beetles on Thursday night. The River Bats won by a score of 5-4. Devon Rodriguez (California Berkeley) had a great night at the plate going 3-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI in the win. Josh Smith (Wichita State) earned the win throwing 4.0 innings of scoreless baseball.
Former St. Cloud River Bat, Robbie Weinhardt, made his Major League debut for the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night. Weinhardt came in relief of Max Scherzer (La Crosse) in the eighth with a three run cushion and allowed one run and a hit in his debut against the Baltimore Orioles. The 24-year-old right-hander hit the first Orioles batter he faced, but induced a double play and a fly out to get out of the eighth inning.
Kyle Roliard (Louisiana Tech) had a great night at the plate for the Duluth Huskies. His four hits helped the Huskies beat the Rochester Honkers by a score of 11-7 at Mayo Field in Rochester. Roliard ended the game at 4-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI. He doubled and also had a homerun in the game. Roliard is hitting .264 in 87 at bats for the Huskies and has six extra base hits on the year.
