The Express lost to the Redbirds 10-4 last night. Nieve wasn’t sharp giving up 3 runs off 9 hits but left the game leading 4-3. He was aided by some stellar defense to get out of a bases loaded no out jam in the sixth.

Memphis led off with three straight singles off Nieve to load the bases. Cazana-Marti grounded a ball to Saccomanno, who touched third base to force out Freese before throwing home, where catcher Josh Paul tagged out a charging Stavinoha.

On the next play, Redbirds catcher Mark Johnson lined a single to right field. Round Rock’s Reggie Abercrombie fielded the ball cleanly and fired a strike to Paul, nailing D’Angelo Jimenez, who was trying to score from second.

The Express had two run triples from MarK Saccamanno and Danny Klassen. Both were hit with no outs and neither was able to score. Those extra runs would have helped as the Redbirds scored 7 runs off the Express bullpen.
Corpus Christi

Bud Norris pitched 5 strong shut out innings and Ryan Thompson pitched 4 shut out innings to finish the game. The only problem was what occurred in the 4 innings in between. Norris left with a 2-0 lead after 5 and Thompson came in to a 5-5 game in the 10th. THe Hooks won 6-5 in 13.

Rob Cosby got the game winner on a hit that should have been an out but the Hooks will take it.

On a 2-0 count, Cosby, denied a chance to provide the game-winner in the 10th, lofted a towering fly that Myron Leslie appeared to lose in the pitch-black sky. The ball landed behind Leslie and bounced into the left-field berm, scoring Sutton.

Salem

Chris Salamida got his first start of the season and earned the win in Salem’s 7-4 victory. Tim Torres went 2-3 with 3 RBI to lead the offense.

The key turning point in the game was Salamida’s ability to get out of 5th inning where Kinston hit the ball hard 4 times but got no runs out of the innings.

Jerad Head’s leadoff single was followed by a failed Cirilo Cumberbatch hit-and-run attempt that saw Head gunned down easily at second. Cumberbatch — as hitters do after baserunning mistakes when things are going badly — promptly followed with a sharp single to left, and Alex Castillo singled to the same spot to put runners on first and second with one out.

The Indians, trailing 4-2 with leadoff man Adam Davis coming up, were in business.

But Davis’ rope of a line drive was stabbed by Avs second baseman Greg Buchanan, who flipped to second to double off Cumberbatch and give the threat a fitting end….

“It was important for us to get a win,” said Salem manager Jim Pankovits. “We’ll take one any way we can get it. This is a tough place to get them historically.”

Lexington

Sergio Severino had control problems last night. He only gave up 3 hits and struck out 6 batters but he walked 4 and hit two batters. That resulted in a short night for him only lasting 3 innings after giving up 3 runs.

The defense was ready for a line dance because the had their boots on. Six errors resulted in 4 unearned runs on the night. Manager Greg Langbehn is frustrated to say the least.

“Our inability to make … relatively routine plays, it’s killing us,” Manager Gregg Langbehn said. “We’re digging our own grave and not covering it up. We did it a couple of times on the road trip; we were able to do it.

“You can’t give teams 31, 32, 33 outs and expect to win. It’s not realistic.”…

“We didn’t pitch well. We didn’t play defense very well,” Langbehn said. “Quite honestly, offensively we benefitted from two balls that were lost in the sky. Otherwise, we probably don’t score.”

The result was an 8-2 loss.

Injury updates:

Legends C Max Sapp (groin) missed his ninth game in a row and probably will miss the rest of the homestand. … Legends LH Jeff Icenogle (calf) will throw off a mound Wednesday. If all goes well, he could be activated in about a week.

Jack Cassel continued his solid pitching, going 7 innings allowing just one earned run. His mound opponent was former Major Leaguer Sidney Ponson who pitched into the 8th but gave up 3 earned runs on the night. The Express won 3-2.

Corpus Christi was off last night

Salem

Fredrick Key’s pitcher Brandon Erbe came into the game allowing only 1 run in 11 1/3 innings pitched. He had allowed only 5 hits and had K’d 13. He didn’t have the same level of success against the Avs. The Avs pounded out 14 hits in their 13-6 win. The Avs were lead by lead off man Wlad Sutil who went 3for 5 with 2 doubles. He has hit in 4 of his last 5 and raised his average to .302. Mark Ori had three crushing hits for the game. The first two were homers, the third was a collision at the plate that jarred the ball loose and caused the Keys to change catchers.

Lexington

Matt Cusick is hot. There is your understatement for the day. He has hit in 9 of his last 10 games. He has batted .425 during that period. Last night, he lead off the game with a homer….for the 3rd straight game. Cusick, who only hit 3 HR all of last season, is second in the league with 34 total bases.

Sergio Severino was impressive allowing 2 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings while striking out 7. His ERA dropped to 0.60, good for 3rd in the Sally League, his 19 strikeouts tie him for 6th in the league. However, he didn’t get the win as the bullpen surrendered 4 unearned runs.

The Legends entered the 9th down 4-3 but Colin Delome’s two out 2 run homer gave them the 5-4 win. The victory gave the Legends their first back to back wins of the season.

Round Rock split a day night doubleheader Saturday. They lost the opener 4-3 and won the nightcap 16-8 thanks to a 9 run 7th. In game one, Jack Cassell surrendered 4 runs in the second inning and that was enough for the I-Cubs to hold on despite a rally by the Express in the ninth. The second game looked like it would be a repeat with the I-Cubs getting 4 runs in the first off Runelvys Hernandez. The Express rallied with a 9 run 7th to erase a 8 – 3 deficit.

Corpus Christi

Bud Norris was impressive in his AA debut. He went 5 strong innings giving up 5 hits and striking out 8, while only walking one batter. Mitch Einertson went 3 for 4 and Rob Cosby hit a 3 run homer for the offensive production in the 5-1 win. The Hooks are off to a franchise best start of 3-0.

“I’m not going out there looking for strikeouts,” Norris said. “I’m just going out there to throw strikes and help my team. But yeah, it definitely started off on the wrong foot, but I kept my composure and made pitches with Lou Santangelo behind the plate and that was all I could really focus on.

Salem

The Avs played through rough conditions and benefit from bad footing in their 5-4 victory. After a 4 run 8th that put the Avs up 5-4, the Nationals were threatening when the conditions gave them a boost. With a runner at second and no one out, a pick off was just what Salem needed.

When Baez took a large lead and then slipped a bit trying to get back to the bag, Tellam threw a bullet to Torres for the out. The throw doused Potomac’s comeback attempt and the Avalanche scored a 5-4 Carolina League victory at Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium.

“If they bunt the guy over in those conditions, there’s no telling what would have happened,” Avalanche manager Jim Pankovits said. “Those were about as tough conditions as you can play in.”

Lexington

Lexington split their double header as well. They lost the opener 2-0, mustering only 3 hits off Cory Riordan in the 7 inning affair. Eric Taylor got two of the three Legends hits. Carlos Ladeuth took the loss despite pitching 5 solid innings.

In the late game, Sergio Severino, was effectively wild. He allowed only two hits but gave four free passes in 5 innings. He struck out 6. The offense responded with the 2-5 batters in the line up getting 2 hits each and at least one RBI each for the Legends 7-1 victory.

The Legends won the base path war. They went 4 out of 5 in stolen bases with Brandon Barnes stealing 2 bases. The Tourist were caught stealing in their two attempts.