Rock Cats

Dustin Martin's two-out triple in the bottom of the fourth accounted for both Rock Cats runs last night as New Britain edged the Trenton Thunder, 2-1, in the Eastern League.

New Britain took advantage of several zany plays in the ninth inning and beat the Reading Phillies, 6-4, in the Eastern League yesterday. The Rock Cats scored three runs in the inning after Reading committed errors on two consecutive sacrifice bunts and a bloop single fell among three fielders. Philadelphia Phillies lefthander J.C. Romero, pitching in relief of starter Joe Savery in a 12-pitch seventh inning, hit a batter, picked him off, and finished with a 1-2-3 inning. Romero was suspended for 50 games for violating baseball's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - The Trenton Thunder sent a major-leaguer to the mound, but the New Britain Rock Cats' Bobby Lanigan stole the show with a big-league performance before his offense walked away with a victory in the ninth. It was Chris Parmelee's bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth that won it for the Cats, 3-2. New York Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes, in a rehab assignment, held the Rock Cats scoreless until the fourth inning. Parmelee worked a leadoff walk and moved to third on Yangervis Solarte's one-out base hit. Parmelee scored on Brian Dozier's single.

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - New Britain's Kyle Gibson struck out nine in a seven-inning gem, but the Reading Phillies rallied late to edge the Rock Cats, 3-1, Tuesday in the Eastern League. Reading's Michael Cisco (2-4) limited the Rock Cats to four runs and one run and no walks while striking out four. Michael Schwimer notched his 11th save of the season with a scoreless ninth. ALLENTOWN - The IronPigs scored five runs in the fifth inning and managed to hold off the Red Sox for the International League win. Phillies.

ALLENTOWN - Rehabbing righthander Kris Benson allowed one earned run in six innings last night as the Lehigh Valley IronPigs beat the Durham Bulls, 4-2, in the International League. Reading 3, New Britain 1 NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - Tyson Brummett allowed one run and four hits in six innings as the Phillies defeated the Rock Cats in the Eastern League. Lakewood 6, Asheville 5 ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Joel Naughton's RBI single in the 10th led the BlueClaws to the South Atlantic League win.

READING - Brian Mazone pitched seven shutout innings for his first win of the season as the Reading Phillies beat the Harrisburg Senators, 2-0, last night in the Eastern League. Scranton 5, Norfolk 1 NORFOLK, Va. - Joe Thurston homered, scored twice, and drove in two runs as the Red Barons beat the Mets in the International League. Trenton 6, New Britain 0 TRENTON - Steven White, Charlie Manning and T.J. Beam combined for the shutout as the Thunder beat the Rock Cats in the Eastern League.

Dan Smith struck out nine in seven innings and allowed only two hits as the Ottawa Lynx defeated the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons, 1-0, in the International League last night. Reading's Eastern League game at Erie was rained out. The makeup game has not been set, and the teams will play single games today and tomorrow. Trenton's Eastern League game at New Britain was suspended after three innings with the Thunder leading the Rock Cats, 5-1. It will be resumed before today's regularly scheduled game.

MOOSIC, Pa. - Shane Victorino smashed a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning yesterday to give the Scranton Red Barons a 5-3 win over the Syracuse SkyChiefs in the International League. Martire Franco got the win in relief. Norwich 6, Reading 4 READING - The Navigators jumped on righthanded starter Seung Hak Lee for eight hits and three runs and touched up reliever Jeff Wilson for three runs in an Eastern League win over the Phillies. Trenton 5, New Britain 0 TRENTON - The Thunder used a strong performance by righthanded starter Matt DeSalvo to roll over the Rock Cats in their Eastern League game.

MOOSIC, Pa. - John Castellano smashed a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons never looked back as they defeated the Syracuse SkyChiefs, 4-1, last night in an International League game. Red Barons starter Mike Bacsik went eight innings, scattering four hits and allowing the one run. New Britain 5, Reading 2 READING - The Phillies outhit the Rock Cats, 9-7, including four extra-base hits, but dropped their Eastern League game.

  TRENTON - For the second game in a row, the Trenton Thunder lost when the New Britain Rock Cats scored three runs in the final inning Saturday. This time it came in the seventh inning, and the Thunder fell, 7-4, in the opener of an Eastern League doubleheader before rain washed away the nightcap. Kanekoa Texeira (0-1) was the victim this time, surrendering all three runs in his lone inning of work. Austin Romine homered for Trenton, his sixth of the season. Reading 6, Portland 2 Portland 4, Reading 2 READING - Scurrying ahead of the approaching storm, the R-Phils and SeaDogs got in a twin bill split in the Eastern League.

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - The Trenton Thunder sent a major-leaguer to the mound, but the New Britain Rock Cats' Bobby Lanigan stole the show with a big-league performance before his offense walked away with a victory in the ninth. It was Chris Parmelee's bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth that won it for the Cats, 3-2. New York Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes, in a rehab assignment, held the Rock Cats scoreless until the fourth inning. Parmelee worked a leadoff walk and moved to third on Yangervis Solarte's one-out base hit. Parmelee scored on Brian Dozier's single.

PAWTUCKET, R.I. - Former Phillie Kevin Millwood allowed only one run in 72/3 innings while striking out six to lead the Pawtucket Red Sox past the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 8-1, in the International League on Saturday. New Britain 2, Reading 1   READING - Tyler Cloyd struck out seven in seven innings but took the loss as the Phillies fell to the Rock Cats in the Eastern League. Binghamton 7, Trenton 4 BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - Allan Dykstra's three-run homer in the seventh gave the Mets the win over the Thunder in the Eastern League.

ALTOONA, Pa. - Drew Naylor pitched a three-hit shutout Monday to give the Reading Phillies a 3-0 victory against Altoona in the final game of their Eastern League season. Reading finished with a 69-72 record. NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - Austin Romine and Marcos Vechionacci homered as the Thunder (83-59) beat the Rock Cats. Trenton opens the EL playoffs Wednesday against visiting New Hampshire. ALLENTOWN - Brandon Laird's RBI double in the top of the 12th gave the Yankees the win over the IronPigs (58-86)

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - New Britain's Kyle Gibson struck out nine in a seven-inning gem, but the Reading Phillies rallied late to edge the Rock Cats, 3-1, Tuesday in the Eastern League. Reading's Michael Cisco (2-4) limited the Rock Cats to four runs and one run and no walks while striking out four. Michael Schwimer notched his 11th save of the season with a scoreless ninth. ALLENTOWN - The IronPigs scored five runs in the fifth inning and managed to hold off the Red Sox for the International League win. Phillies.

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Matthew Rizzotti slugged a three-run homer off former teammate Kyle Drabek to cap a five-run third as the Reading Phillies beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 5-4, in the Eastern League last night. Vance Worley struck out six batters in six innings for the win. NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - Hector Noesi threw a five-hit shutout as the Thunder won the opener of the Eastern League doubleheader, but two Trenton errors let the Rock Cats score four unearned runs to win the nightcap and earn a split.

DURHAM, N.C. - J.J. Furmaniak's two-run double in the bottom of the ninth gave the Durham Bulls a 3-2 win over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in the International League on Monday afternoon. Ryan Vogelsong, who had started the inning with a 2-1 lead, was credited with a blown save and the loss. NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - D.J. Mitchell gave up two runs over seven innings, and Daniel Brewer was 3 for 4 with three RBIs to lead the Thunder past the Rock Cats in the Eastern League. MANCHESTER, N.H. - Ty Taubenheim gave up one run in five innings to lead the Phillies to the Eastern League win. Lakewood.

READING - A three-run home run by Matthew Rizzotti helped the Reading Phillies score six runs in the first inning of a 9-5 win over New Britain at FirstEnergy Stadium on Saturday. In lighting up the Rock Cats in the first, Reading also got run-scoring hits from Mike Spidale, Domonic Brown, and Ozzie Chavez. Reading added to its total with a double by Chavez in the third and a two-run homer by Brown in the sixth. The offensive onslaught made a winner out of J.C. Ramirez, newly promoted from Clearwater, where he was 4-3. The pitcher, one of three prospects acquired for Cliff Lee, was elevated to Reading this week.

NORWICH, Conn. - Garrett Broshuis allowed three hits and a run over six innings yesterday as the Connecticut Defenders earned a 5-1 Eastern League victory over the Reading Phillies. Reading (75-67), which finished second in the Southern Division, has earned its first playoff appearance since 2001. The Phillies will begin a best-of-three series against the division-champion Aeros (89-53) tomorrow in Akron, Ohio. The second game will be played on Thursday. Reading will host Game 3 on Friday and Game 4, if necessary, on Saturday.

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - The New Britain Rock Cats eliminated Trenton and claimed the last Eastern League playoff berth for themselves yesterday, posting a 6-4 victory over the Thunder. Whitney Robbins and Wilson Ramos hit home runs for the winners. Lehigh Valley 5, Buffalo 4 ALLENTOWN - The IronPigs rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth to earn an International League victory over the Bisons. Mike Cervenak homered for Lehigh Valley. Reading 6, Connecticut 0 NORWICH, Conn.