Cards win rematch with Guelph

GUELPH – One night after losing at home to Guelph, the Hamilton Cardinals knocked off the Royals on the road.

Hamilton took control with five runs in the eighth inning Saturday and held on for a 13-11 victory.

Tyler Duncan hit his league-leading 13^th home run and drove in six for the Cards. Brandon Nicholson went 4-for-5 with four RBI and two runs, Luis Bernardo homered and drove in two, Josh Niles singled twice and added a solo home run, Laine Renaud went 2-for-4 and scored three times and Luis Pimentel-Guerrero had two hits and two runs.

Stefan Strecker (2-0) picked up the win in relief, allowing an unearned run on one hit over 1.1 innings. He walked two. Nik Cardinal struck out two in a hitless ninth for his first save.

Hamilton starter Colby Ring went five innings and gave up four runs on nine hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

Ashton Patterson and Darius Barlas each drove in a pair of runs for the Royals (16-20). Kyle Kush, J.D. Williams and Noah Roberts all had two hits and an RBI and Josh Garton drove in a run.

Yomar Concepcion (5-6) took the loss, yielding seven runs (four earned) on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Starter Kyle Thomas lasted five innings and gave up six runs (five earned) on eight hits. He walked four and fanned four.

Majors strike early in win over Red Sox

LONDON – The London Majors scored all of their runs in the first four innings Saturday and cruised to a 13-4 win over Brantford at Labatt Park.

Eduardo De Oleo kept up with Hamilton’s Tyler Duncan and connected for his 13^th longball to tie the IBL leader. De Oleo drove in three, as did teammate Andrew Lawrence, who also scored twice. Starling Joseph and Daniel Battel had two RBI apiece, Kayne McGee went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs, and Austin Wilkie added an RBI.

Jordan Schulefand (1-0) struck out 10 over seven innings for the win. He allowed four runs on seven hits with a walk.

London moved to 12-20.

For Brantford, Cris Ruiz hit a three-run blast. Matthew Fabian went 3-for-4 with a run.

Quincy Jones (1-1) took the loss, allowing seven runs on six hits with three walks and a strikeout over three innings.

Brantford dropped to 6-27.

Garces goes the distance in Baycats’ win

BARRIE – Frank Garces struck out 15 in a complete-game shutout as the Barrie Baycats beat Welland 4-0 Saturday night at Vintage Throne Stadium.

Garces (6-0) scattered three hits and walked one as Barrie (23-10) moved 1.5 games behind the first-place Jackfish (25-9).

Noel McGarry-Doyle had two hits, including a home run, and two RBI. Malik Williams drove in two on a pair of hits and Canice Ejoh went 3-for-4 with two runs.

Ethan Hunt had two of Welland’s three hits. Alberto Guerrero took the loss, giving up four runs on eight hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out three.