Tuesday, May 10

Pirates 2, Orioles 1
The Pirates beat the Orioles 2-1. After four walks and a single in the first inning that plated two Pirate runs, Oriole pitching settled in and pitched great. After the second run came in, Raphy Hanna struck out seven of the next 10 batters. Ben Yamron also struck out 5 in 3 innings while making 4 plays for outs over his three innings. The Oriole bats only generated four hits (Matt Pericone single, run), Ryan Cusick (single, RBI), Yamron (double) and Hanna (single). 

For the Pirates, Nathaniel Madigan and Nick Broadbent held the Orioles to four hits as the Pirates made two first inning runs stand in a 2-1victory. Broadbent struck out eight batters in three innings and had one of the Pirates three hits. Cam Kessler and Nathaniel Madigan also collected hits. The Pirates’ Sam Zhou excelled on defense, making four outstanding plays, including a double play in the third with a diving stop.

Cardinals 11, Rangers 7
A four-run fifth inning lifted the Cardinals in an 11-7 victory over the Rangers. The heart of the Cardinals order accounted for 11 hits, including 3-for-3 days for Jeffrey Burlowitz and Michael Ciampa, while Henry Latta, Nick Chace and George Cook also had multi-hit games. Michael Zhang added a key fifth inning single and Xander Ottenberg held the Rangers scoreless in middle relief.

For the Rangers, Brett Flanagan (2 hits, 2 runs), Alex Martin (2 doubles, 2 runs, 2 RBI), and Eric Lifson (single, double, RBI, 3 stolen bases) lead the offensive attack. Thomas Griffin made a great running catch in the outfield to take away a base hit and Michael Long provided 3 innings of solid pitching.

Wednesday, May 11

Phillies 6, Rangers 5
In a close, hard-fought game the Phillies prevailed over the Rangers 6-5. Offensively, the Phillies were led by Devin Hubbard (2 singles, stolen base, 1 run), Zack Wilcox (double, single, 2 RBI), Scott Barnes (2 run single), and Trevor VanLeer (2 doubles, single, 2 RBI, 2 runs). VanLeer also pitched 3 scoreless innings in relief to keep the game close and William Fletcher preserved the victory getting the last hitter to pop out to short. Defensively, Fletcher contributed with 5 putouts (3 unassisted). Also contributing defensively were Jacob Fisher (2 putouts and 1 assist), VanLeer (2 putouts and 1 assist), and James Loughlin (2 unassisted putouts and 1 assist).

The Rangers got outstanding pitching from Alex Martin (3IP, 1 ER, 4K) and Scott MacLeish (2.7 IP, 0 ER, 3K). On offense, Martin scored 2 runs, and Brett Flanagan, Thomas Griffin and Noah Cohen-Harding also scored for the Rangers. Eric Lifson made several key defensive plays and added a hit and RBI. Flanagan and Michael Long contributed strong play behind the plate.

Cardinals 12, Red Sox 3
After falling behind 3-0, the Cardinals scored 12 unanswered runs to push past the Red Sox, 12-3. The bottom of the lineup supplied clutch hits and got the offense rolling. Alex Gullotti had two doubles and a pair of RBIs, while Henry Griffin and Emilio DeSantis combined for three additional hits and two RBIs. Michael Zhang added a pair of doubles, Dennis McCarthy a pair of singles, and Michael Ciampa a two-run homer to left to lift the offense.

The Red Sox jumped out to an early lead with runs scored by Dan Finnegan, Nick Fairweather and Dan Stern, but were unable to maintain its early lead. Hunter Corliss led the Red Sox offense with a single and double, and Finnegan, Stern, and Erica Jarrell each contributed singles.

Thursday, May 12

Rays 16, Giants 9
The Rays topped the Giants 16-9. The Rays offense was led by Jay OBrien and Michael Nigrelli with three hits each. Calvin Terpstra, Deven Pathak and Daniel Desmarais added two hits each and Mike Kossuth chipped in with 3 RBIs. The Rays got great pitching from Nigrelli, Obrien, Pathak and a final inning from Desmarais to close out the win.

The Gaints offensive attack was led by Ethan McCullough (HR, 2RBI) who slugged the team's first home run of the season into deep center field. Also contributing run support for the Giants were Hayden Frey (3H, R), Tyler George (H, 2R), Seamus Fagan (3B, R, RBI), Josh Winograd (2B, Run) and Rylan Forrester (3H, R, RBI). Rory Bordiuk pitched well in relief, striking out four.

Cubs 12, Marlins 2
The Cubs defeated the Marlins 12-2 with a 10-run burst over the fifth and sixth innings. Starters Justin Vandervelden (2IP, 4K) for the Cubs and Kyle Phelan (3IP, 5K) for the Marlins both pitched one hit shut-outs. Will Tarini and Chandler Katz each had superb outings on the mound for the Cubs allowing just one run apiece, helped by the outstanding fielding performance of Gabe Longtine who made all three outs at second base in the third and a run-saving catch in deep right field in the fourth. Nice hits by Tarini, Katz, Vandervelden, Andrew LaScaleia and Brendon Roth contributed to the Cubs offense. Also scoring for the Cubs were Jake Erman, Nick Hallal and Longtine while Sam Guzi and Jack Sorbo each scored twice. Marlin hits came off the bats of Phelan, Ryan Ewing, John Giacolone and Ryan Rogers.

Saturday, May 14

Marlins 12, Royals 2
The Marlins combined solid pitching with timely hitting to beat the Royals 9-2. Kunaal Verma pitched three shutout innings (4 K’s) and Andy Richard pitched the last three innings (3 K’s) for the Marlins to keep the Royals bats quiet. While the Marlins’ pitchers battled hard, the timely hitting of Richard (2 singles, RBI, R), Alex Rubin (2 singles, 2 R) and Alex Gogan (2 singles, RBI, R) proved instrumental. John Giacalone also reached base three times (2 BB, single) and scored two runs while making an outstanding catch in left field for the Marlins.
 
The highlights for the Royals included solid pitching from Archie Stewart, Matthew Hyer and Adam Thomas. The game featured solid defense on both teams including 4 putouts and two assists each by Thomas and Sam Meyerson of the Royals. Cameron Park hit the ball well for the Royals, while Stewart (single, RBI), Thomas (2B, R) and Hyer (2B, R) also contributed.

Cubs 9, Phillies 1
Superb pitching by Will Tarini and Nick Hallal led the Cubs to a 9-1 win over the Phillies. Tarini scored twice for the Cubs with a double and a single while Justin Vandervelden scored three times with a triple and a single.  Christopher Kelly, Hallal and Brendon Roth all added a hit. Sam Guzi at catcher made a super play to throw out a runner attempting to steal. In the final inning, Cubs denied a potential late Phillies rally with great defense by Vandervelden with two diving catches in center and Andrew LaScaleia who caught a hard liner to third.   For the Phillies, Devin Hubbard ripped a triple and was brought home by Scott Barnes' single. James Loughlin had a perfect bunt single and Jack Maillet had a nice single. Defensively, Hubbard had a putout and an assist, Zack Wilcox had an assist and two putouts and William Fletcher added two putouts. Loughlin also pitched a one run fourth and Barnes had a nine pitch, one run fifth inning to keep the game close.
Cardinals 8, Orioles 3
Aggressive base running and solid fielding were instrumental in the Cardinals 8-3 win over the Orioles. Limited to five hits, the Cardinals were opportunistic on the basepaths and took advantage of several key situations. Nick Chace (2 SB), Jeffrey Burlowitz and George Cook all reached base twice, while Henry Griffin, Xander Ottenberg and Michael Ciampa each reached three times. Excellent pitching by Cook (5 Ks) and Chace (3 Ks), and a key hit by Michael Zhang were also difference makers.

Ben Yamron led the Orioles offense with a towering two-run homer to right that caromed of a tree beyond the outfield fence, while Ryan Cusick, Jacob Williams and Frankie Durant singled, doubled and singled, respectively. A.J. Cataldo and Daniel Sacher also reached base successfully, and Durant added two steals. Cusick also struck out seven Cardinals over three innings.