Vancouver earns tough win against Sugar Bears

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Vancouver pulled off a huge win against Newark at the Cereal Bowl. The loss is only the second loss on the season at home for the Sugar Bears. The game was a ping pong match of high scoring. Newark started it off with a 3-run second inning. Vancouver got the lead back in the fifth, scoring four runs to take a 5-3 lead, highlighted by a David Ortiz two-run bomb. Nick Swisher and Jack Cust hit back to back home runs in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead, 6-5. But Vancouver scored two runs in each of the next two innings to claim a 9-6 lead, then extended it to 12-6 with a 3-run eighth. But Newark wasn't done. Nick Swisher hit his second home run of the night, a three-run shot to bring the Sugar Bears to within three. Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit yet another two-run dinger in the ninth to bring Newark to within one, but Mike Fontenot hit a towering pop up that catcher Victor Martinez hauled in for the final out.

Sardine City kept their hot streak alive with a 5-2 win over Hillsborough. Kurt Suzuki hit a key two-run single in the eighth that broke the game wide open for the Straphangers. Fausto Carmona pitched a brilliant 6.1 innings, allowing only one earned run on three hits, but did not factor into the decision. The Sardines have now won six of their last seven games.

Mike Redmond extended his hitting streak to 16 in Carolina's 10-9 loss to New Jersey. Redmond was 2-4 and is now one game shy of B.J. Upton for the season's longest streak. New Jersey's Garrett Anderson was 3-5 with three runs scored. Anderson has been filling in for the injured Alfonso Soriano and Melky Cabrera and doing an admirable job there. Anderson is hitting .326 with a .775 OPS in 11 games so far. Soriano is expected to return Sunday, though Anderson may continue to replace Cabrera in the lineup.

Kelvim Escobar tallied 13 strikeouts against his former team and outduelled Matt Garza to pick up a 2-1 win for the Bushslappers in Hoboken. Adrian Beltre doubled in the winning run in the seventh to give D.C. their third straight win.

Jason Hirsh pitched a solid game in place of the injured Orlando Hernandez against Blue Ridge yesterday. Hirsh did not get the win as the Rat Pack waited until the eighth inning to rally, but the effort boosted manager Eric Wickstrom's confidence in the youngster.