4/29: The Rundown

Durham Bulls 9, Buffalo Bisons 2
Box | Recap
Notes: Durham improved to 15-6... Jeremy Hellickson recovered from a rough outing last start to go 5.2 innings, allow 2 runs on 6 hits, and strike out 5... Mike Ekstrom followed with his Durham debut, and Winston Abreu and Dale Thayer each threw scoreless frames... Chris Richard, Angel Chavez, and Rashad Eldridge all homered for Durham... Justin Ruggiano went 3 for 4 with a double and a walk... Hank Blalock and Dan Johnson each had 2 hits and 3 RBIs...
The Leftovers: Hellickson recovered nicely for sure. After struggling with his command and striking out only 1 last time out, he was much better. He threw 68 of his 96 pitches for strikes, including 17 of the swinging variety... Hank Blalock is hitting .404 for the Bulls...

Montgomery Biscuits 6, Mississippi Braves 3
Box | Recap
Notes: Montgomery improved to 11-9... Jeremy Hall started and allowed 2 runs over 5.1 innings, but it was Eduardo Morlan who got the win in relief thanks to the Montgomery offense coming alive... Matt Fields went 3-4 with a home run... Emeel Salem was 2-3 with a triple and 2 RBIs...
The Leftovers:

Charlotte Stone Crabs 6, St. Lucie Mets 3
Box | Recap
Notes: Charlotte improved to 10-8... Frank De Los Santos started and allowed 3 runs over 6 innings to improve to 3-0. He struck out 7 and walked 3... The bullpen flexed it muscle once again, with Marquis Fleming and Zach Quate combining for 3 perfect innings, striking out 4... Tim Beckham was the offensive star, driving in 5 of Charlotte's runs on two triples. He also drew a walk... Isiais Velasquez reached base four times(two hits and two walks) and stole two bases...
The Leftovers: I'm going to be a broken record on the Marquis Fleming thing until he either gets promoted or stops dominating: 12 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 4 walks, 23 strikeouts. Zach Quate too has been great: 11 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 15 strikeouts.

Great Lakes Loons 7, Bowling Green Hot Rods 4
Box | Recap
Notes: Bowling Green fell to 5-15... Scott Shuman got hit hard in the 9th inning, allowing 5 runs and turning a 4-2 lead into a 7-4 deficit... Kyle Lobstein allowed 2 runs(1 earned) over 5.2 innings. He struck out 3 and walked 3... Brett Nommensen was 3-4 with a double and 2 RBIs...
The Leftovers: Bowling Green certainly leads the way in disappointing starts: Ty Morrison hasn't gotten anything going at the plate, Kyle Lobstein hasn't been as good as I thought he'd be so far, and Scott Shuman's going to have to do some work to burn the effects of this game off his ERA...