By Greg Halbleib
Former Illinois State and Normal West pitcher Brock Stewart makes his major league debut tonight for the Dodgers as he starts tonight’s game on the mound at Milwaukee. Stewart is 24 and began the season at the Class A level.
The CornBelters didn’t lead until the very end despite tying the game twice, but the third rally was the charm as the Belters beat visiting Traverse City 5-4 in 11 innings. Santiago Chirino drove in four runs including the game-winning grounder in the 11th and his base hit in the fifth led to the other tally. Right-hander Chris Carmain starts for the Belters in tonight’s rematch at the Corn Crib. WJBC.com pre-game begins at 6:20 ahead of the 6:35 first pitch.
The Cardinals handled the Royals 8-4 behind a 2-for-3 night with a solo home run and two RBIs from Matt Carpenter. Michael Wacha picked up his second straight win. The series shifts to St. Louis tonight and tomorrow. The pitching matchup is one of right-handers, Edinson Volquez for the Royals and Carlos Martinez for the Redbirds. 6:20 Cards network pre-game on AM 1230 WJBC.
The Cubs won at Cincinnati 7-2 in 15 innings as Kris Bryant smacked a tiebreaking single followed by a grand slam by Javier Baez to put the game out of reach. The teams finish the series this afternoon at Great American Ball Park. Right-hander Kyle Hendricks starts for the Cubs against Reds lefty Cody Reed.
The White Sox lost to visiting Minnesota 4-0 with all of the scoring taking place on two home runs from Brian Dozier. The series continues tonight with right-handers Ricky Nolasco for the Twins and James Shields for the Sox.
The college baseball season ends tonight in Omaha. Coastal Carolina beat Arizona 5-4 last night to force a deciding Game 3 in the College World Series.