Daytona is claiming a playoff spot while Tennessee has lost their grip on one. The Cougars tie a franchise record for wins.
Kane County manager Mark Johnson was named the Midwest League Manager of the Year.
Iowa Cubs
The Iowa Cubs were beaten by the Tacoma Rainiers (Mariners), 5-3.
Dan Straily started for Iowa and allowed five runs on ten hits over five innings. One of the five runs was unearned. Straily struck out six and walked three.
Left fielder Junior Lake hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning. Lake was 2 for 3 and also doubled and walked. He scored two runs.
Tennessee Smokies
The Tennessee Smokies were swept by the Jacksonville Suns (Marlins), 6-5.
Starter Pierce Johnson allowed three runs on five hits over six innings. Johnson had some problems with the longball as all three runs scored on a pair of home runs. Johnson struck out three and walked two.
Frank Batista entered the game in the top of the ninth with a 6-4 lead, but took the loss when he allowed three runs on two hits in the inning he pitched. One of the runs was unearned because of an Addison Russell throwing error. Batista walked two, hit one batter and struck out one.
Anthony Giansanti was 2 for 3 with a double and a sacrifice fly. He scored once.
Albert Almora went 2 for 5 with a double and a triple. Almora had one RBI and one run scored.
Charles Cutler was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.
Chattanooga won tonight, so the Smokies fall into a first-place tie with the Lookouts. The two teams will finish out the season with a five-game series at Chattanooga starting on Thursday. It's best-of-five, winner-take-all.
Daytona Cubs
The Daytona Cubs clipped the wings of the Dunedin Blue Jays, 6-5.
Rob Zastryzny pitched five innings and gave up four runs on seven hits, two of which were home runs. He did dominate the strike zone as he struck out nine and walked only one.
Stephen Perakslis got the win with 2.1 innings of relief of Zastryzny. Perakslis allowed two hits, three walks and a hit batter, but no runs. He struck out three.
Zack Godley entered the game in the eighth inning with men on first and second and one out and promptly loaded the bases on his own fielding error. But he struck out the next two batters to end the threat. He allowed a leadoff home run in the ninth inning and a single to the next batter, but then retired the next three batters for his seventh save.
Godley's final line was one run on two hits over 1.2 innings. He struck out four and walked nobody.
The Cubs took the lead in the top of the eighth on a two-run single by shortstop Marco Hernandez. Hernandez was 2 for 4.
In the fourth inning, right fielder Bijan Rademacher hit a solo home run which was his tenth of the season. Rademacher also had two doubles in a 3 for 5 night. Rademacher scored twice.
Third baseman Wes Darvill went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and one run batted in.
Tampa won, so Daytona holds their two-game lead in the division with four to play. After the final game of the Dunedin series tomorrow, Tampa comes to Daytona to finish out the year.
Kane County Cougars
The Kane County Cougars tied a franchise record for wins by swatting the Burlington Bees (Angels), 6-1.
Starter Duane Underwood got his sixth win by allowing just one run on five hits over 5.1 innings. Underwood struck out four and didn't walk anyone.
The Cougars had ten hits in this game and all nine players in the lineup got at least one hit. DH Chesny Young was the guy who got the second hit. He was 2 for 4 with a double and a sacrifice fly.
The Cougars record now stands at 88-46 with six games to play. The franchise record for wins was 88, set in 2001.
Boise Hawks
The Boise Hawks gave up three runs in the top of the ninth inning to fall to the Everett AquaSox (Mariners), 4-2.
Starter Josh Conway pitched three innings and was perfect, retiring all nine batters. He struck out two.
Sam Wilson entered the game in the seventh inning and allowed only one single between the seventh and eighth innings. But then he started the ninth and gave up singles to the first three batters he faced before exiting. Two of the hits were bunt singles. (I presume both hitters were trying to sacrifice.) So Daniel Lewis came into the game with the bases-loaded, no outs and a 2-1 lead. After a strikeout, he walked in the tying run. Then Everett took the lead on the third bunt single of the inning. A sacrifice fly ended the scoring.
The final line on Wilson, who got the loss, was 2+ innings, allowing three runs on four hits. He struck out four and walked nobody.
DH Kevin Brown was 2 for 4 with a triple and two run scored.
Seventeen year-old shortstop Gleyber Torres made his Boise debut tonight. He was 0 for 3 with a walk.
Salem-Keizer also lost. For the Hawks to make the playoffs, they need two things to happen. One, they need Hillsboro to win the second half. Then they need to have a better overall record than Salem-Keizer. Currently, Hillsboro has a three-game lead over Salem-Keizer in the second half and Boise has a two-game lead overall on the Volcanoes with six games to play. The final three games of the season will be between Boise and Salem-Keizer at Memorial Stadium.
AZL Cubs