Rick VandenHurk made his case for a September promotion to the Pirates with a sparkling performance to earn his 12th win of the year for the Indians. VandenHurk allowed just two hits and two walks on his way to one unearned run allowed, and that was in the eighth inning. He struck out eight in 7.1 innings. Evan Meek finished the eighth inning and Tim Wood picked up his 20th save with a scoreless ninth. Chase d'Arnaud (we haven't said his name much) provided all the offense Indianapolis required to win with a two-run homer in the fifth inning. The blast was d'Arnaud's fourth of the season. He's still only hitting .225. Alex Presley went 2-for-3 with a walk, and Brock Holt proved to be mortal with a mere 1-for-4 night. Holt did walk and steal his first AAA base. Holt's average is down to .411 after the substandard night. Tony Sanchez also went 2-for-3 and threw out a runner trying to steal. The big league squad could sure use a guy who could do that...
AA Altoona | Altoona 5 Trenton 0
Although the Curve offense lashed 12 hits, the obvious story in this one was Jameson Taillon's AA debut, and what a debut it was. The top prospect hurled five shutout innings in his first start at the level and gave up four hits and struck out six without walking a batter. Hunter Strickland kept runs off the board in his three innings, striking out three despite walking three and allowing one hit. And Victor Black's magical season continued with another scoreless, hitless inning. Black did walk a batter but fanned one as well. Offensively, several players recorded good nights for the Curve, despite striking out 13 times. Stefan Welch was not one of those players as he went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts. But Ramon Cabrera led the charge with three hits, and his average continued its steady climb up to .269. Matt Curry went 2-for-5 with his 31st double and had three RBIs. Quincy Latimore had two hits and a double, his 22nd. Andrew Lambo had his third two-hit game out of four since coming off the disabled list, and Adalberto Santos went 1-for-5 with two runs.
A West Virginia | Charleston 5 West Virginia 4
Eric Avila's torrid pace raged on, as his eighth-inning grand slam was his ninth home run of the season and his fifth in the last six games. In his last ten contests, Avila is hitting .395 with a 1465 OPS and six home runs and five doubles in just 38 at-bats. Alen Hanson went 2-for-4 with a walk and Willy Garcia had two hits and his 17th double on the year. Robby Rowland was saddled with the loss despite pitching a solid game. Rowland did give up four runs in six innings, but he struck out a season-high eight. Rowland walked one and allowed six hits. Porfirio Lopez allowed a run in the eighth that proved to be the difference as Avila's grand slam cut the deficit to one instead of tying the game. Pat Ludwig pitched a shutout ninth inning in his debut for the Power. He fanned two.
A Bradenton | Fort Myers 3 Bradenton 2
The Marauders scored two runs in the top of the first inning on a Mel Rojas home run and Elevys Gonzalez RBI single, but they couldn't generate any more runs and fell to Fort Myers. Rojas' shot was his fifth of the year and he stole his 16th base. Alex Dickerson was the only Bradenton player with multiple hits, as he went 2-for-3 with a double (his 31st) and a walk. Casey Sadler allowed just one run in his five innings on the mound, but was stuck with a no-decision. Sadler gave up three hits and walked one while striking out two. Quinton Miller blew the lead by giving up a run in his two innings, and Zach Foster gave up a run on three hits in the bottom of the eighth to earn the loss.
A State College | Auburn 3 State College 1
The Spikes' recent offensive woes without Barrett Barnes continued as they managed just five hits, none for extra bases in a loss to Auburn. Walker Gourley, D.J. Crumlich, Jesus Vasquez, Samuel Gonzalez and Chris Diaz had a single apiece for State College. Yhonathan Barrios walked twice. Joely Rodriguez had a decent outing but needed to pitch a shutout to avoid getting the loss. He failed in that task by giving up three runs on six hits and two walks in five innings. Rodriguez did strike out six Auburn hitters. Lance Breedlove hurled three shutout innings of relief.