Metro Sports Report

Local players in pro baseball

RYAN SWEENEY (Xavier, Chicago Cubs) - Placed on disabled list June 30 with fractured rib. Expected to miss at least six weeks. Season stats: G - 44, Avg. - .295, AB - 112, H - 33, HR - 4, RBI - 15, SB - 1.

SCOTT SCHEBLER (Prairie, Rancho Cucamonga (Dodgers)) - Started in right field Tuesday and was 1-for-3 with a 10th-inning home run and two RBIs in the Quakes' 6-5 win over Inland Empire. The homer extended his hitting streak to 18 games. He is 29-for-72 (.403) over that span. Season stats: G - 69, Avg. - .296, AB - 257, H - 76, HR - 13, RBI - 43, SB - 7.

KELLEN SWEENEY (Jefferson, Lansing (Blue Jays)) - Started at third base Tuesday and was 0-for-4 in the Lugnuts' 6-2 loss to Lake County. Season stats: G - 66, Avg. - .187, AB - 214, H - 40, HR - 3, RBI - 15, SB - 0.

ANDREW HANSE (Linn-Mar, Hudson Valley (Rays)) - Pitched two-thirds of an inning Tuesday in the Renegades' 6-2 loss to Aberdeen. Season stats: W - 1. L - 1. Sv - 1. ERA - 5.59. G - 6. IP - 9.2. H - 8. BB - 3. SO - 6.

CHAD CHRISTENSEN (Washington, GCL Twins (Twins)) - Started both games of Tuesday's doubleheader and was 1-for-3 with an RBI, pair of walks and sacrifice fly as the Twins split with the GCL Orioles. Season stats: G - 7, Avg. - .292, AB - 24, H - 7, HR - 0, RBI - 5, SB - 0.

Twins pitcher helps CR win 11th in row

Minnesota Twins pitcher Mike Pelfrey had two important goals Monday night when he made his rehabilitation start with the Cedar Rapids Kernels at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Number 1, he wanted to prove to the Twins and himself that he's recovered from back spasms and that he's ready to pitch for Minnesota again Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

And Number 2, he didn't want to mess things up for the red-hot Kernels.

He succeeded on both counts.

Pelfrey allowed two runs in six innings and got the victory as Cedar Rapids clipped Peoria, 6-3, for their 11th straight victory before 2,246 fans in a snappy Midwest League game.

Pelfrey passes test in rehab start

Everyone was a winner Monday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Everyone but the Peoria Chiefs, anyway.

Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Mike Pelfrey, in Cedar Rapids for a rehabilitation start after being sidelined on the Twins disabled list with a back strain, pitched six innings and struck out six hitters. He gave up a home run in the first inning and a triple in the sixth inning, but no hits in between.

The Kernels organization was definitely a winner, drawing a crowd of 2,246 through the gate, several hundred more fans  than their usual Monday night crowd.

And, oh yes, the Kernels rode Pelfrey’s start to a 6-3 win over the Peoria Chiefs, for their 11th straight win to start the second half of their Midwest League season.

Surging Cougars sweep No.10 Saints

Two teams that had been gathering momentum in June collided Monday night in the Battle of 42nd Street at Kennedy High School.

Kennedy kept its momentum. Xavier lost theirs.

The surging Cougars swept the No.10 Saints, 2-1 in nine innings and 4-3, in a Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill.

Both games were well-pitched, but the opener was truly a pitching duel between Xavier’s Mitch Keller and Kennedy’s Zack Daniels (who gave way to David King in the ninth).