The Undercards: Excellent Start By Enny Romero Helps Propel Biscuits to Victory

Enny Romero turned in his second consecutive excellent start last night, as he worked around several miscues to hold down the Mississippi Braves offense. Consistency has been a major issue for Romero in his career, but he is in the midst of an excellent run. Hopefully, something has clicked, and he has found that consistency that the Rays have been waiting on.

Durham Bulls 8, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees) 4

The Bulls continued their winning ways Friday night, topping the RailRiders 8-4. Durham took an early lead, as Jason Bourgeois tripled with two outs, and scored on a base hit by Wil Myers. After the RailRiders tied the game on Thomas Neal‘s first home run of the season in the top of the third, the Bulls came right back, as Myers drove in another run on a groundout. They tacked on another run in the fourth, as Tim Beckham and Cole Figueroa hit back to back triples to put the Bulls on top 3-1. Neal again made his presence felt in the fifth, hitting another solo home run to cut the lead to one, but from that point, Durham took over. After scoring twice in the bottom of the fifth, Brandon Guyer hit a two run home run in the sixth to give the Bulls a 7-2 lead. After the RailRiders scored twice in the top of the seventh, Figueroa drove Beckham in again to provide the final margin in the 8-4 victory. Jim Padauch got the win, giving up four runs on seven hits in 6.1 innings, striking out six. Figueroa was 3-4 with a triple and two RBIs. Beckham, Guyer and Rich Thompson each had two hits in the victory.

Montgomery Biscuits 5, Mississippi Braves 3

The Biscuits took advantage of two Braves miscues to score twice in the first. After putting runners on first and second to start off the game, a passed ball allowed Kevin Kiermaier to score from second and Shawn O’Malley moved to third. One batter later, a throwing error by Braves starter Gus Schlosser allowed O’Malley to score as the Biscuits took an early 2-0 lead. The Braves got one back in the bottom of the inning, using an error by O’Malley to extend the inning. With two outs, Christian Marrero made the error costly, driving in a run to cut the lead in half. The score remained 2-1 into the fifth, as Biscuits starter Enny Romero was cruising along until he got himself into trouble. With two outs in the fifth, Romero gave up a hit to Christian Bethancourt. he then tried to pick him off first, but his throw was errant, allowing Bethancourt to reach third. Tommy La Stella followed with a base hit to tie the game at 2-2. However, the Biscuits came back, using a two out rally in the seventh. After Kiermaier tripled, O’Malley followed witha walk and stole second. Mikie Mahtook followed with a two run single, putting the Biscuits back on top. The Braves got a run back in the bottom of the eighth, but O’Malley drove in an insurance run in the ninth as the Biscuits held on for the 5-3 victory. Romero picked up the win, giving up two unearned runs on six hits, striking out five in his six innings. Kiermaier had an excellent day at the plate, going 4-4 with a triple, two runs scored, a stolen base and a walk. Despite the error, O’Malley had a good night, as he was 2-4 with two runs scored, an RBI, a walk and two stolen bases.

Charlotte Stone Crabs v. St. Lucie Mets – postponed

Heavy rains and unsafe field conditions caused the postponement of last night’s game between the Stone Crabs and the Mets. It will be made up as part of a double header on Saturday, with game one starting at 5:00pm.

South Bend Silver Hawks (Diamondbacks) 8, Bowling Green Hot Rods 6

For most of the game, it appeared as though the Hot Rods were on their way to an easy victory. Bowling Green jumped out on the Silver Hawks in the second, as they loaded the bases with one out. Patrick Leonard then delivered, belting a grand slam. The Hot Rods scored twice more in the fourth, as Tyler Goeddel drove in a run with an RBI single, then scored on a sacrifice fly. With the score 6-0, Bowling Green appeared to have the game well in hand. Starter Sean Bierman was cruising through the Silver Hawks lineup, and South Bend had not really mounted a threat. That changed in the eighth, as the Silver Hawks got a bit of a spark. After consecutive singles to lead off the inning, Kevin Medrano singled up the middle, scoring a run. Andrew Toles misplayed the ball, but got the second runner at home. However, the Silver hawks had a runner at third with one out. After a walk, a wild pitch on a strike out plated Medrano for the second run of the inning. Brandon Drury then followed with a base hit, cutting the lead to 6-3. The floodgates opened in the ninth, as the Silver Hawks roared all the way back. Carter Bell led off the inning with a home run, cutting the lead to 6-4. With the Hot Rods one out away, Breland Almadova had an RBI single to cut the lead to one. After another base hit, Brandon Drury completed the comeback, belting a three run home run to left to give the Silver Hawks the victory. Bierman pitched well, allowing only four hits and a walk in six innings, striking out four. Matt Ramsey took the loss, giving up two runs while recording one out. Goedell had an excellent game, going 3-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in the loss.