Lars went 4/4 tonight with a double and a walk. If he cared about children with cancer, he'd have hit a home run.

• THE HIGHLIGHTS: First baseman Jeff Natale swatted a three-run homer in the second and second baseman Joe Thurston added a solo blow in the fifth. Reliever Jose Vaquedano (2-1) hurled four innings of one-run ball to pick up the win.

• THE TURNING POINT: Syracuse pinch-hitter Curtis Thigpen touched Pawtucket reliever Hunter Jones for a two-run double in the eighth to make it a one-run game, and Chiefs center fielder Buck Coats led off the ninth with a single. But Jones settled down to get Danny Sandoval and Russ Adams to pop out and Robinson Diaz to fly out to end the game.

• SHORT NIGHT FOR COLON: Bartolo Colon started for the PawSox, his third appearance in a comeback from a lower back injury. But he lasted only one inning, laboring in throwing 17 pitches and giving up two hits. Vaquedano replaced him to start the second. Colon reportedly was battling a stomach ailment.

Iggy Suarez wasn't going to lose the race to first base, not after the Portland Sea Dogs had rallied so late in the game.

Friday night at Hadlock Field, the Sea Dogs surrendered a six-run lead before an infield hit by Suarez in the bottom of the ninth inning drove in Mark Wagner to give Portland an 8-7 win over Harrisburg.

"I was kind of surprised," Suarez said. "I kind of cued it off the end of the bat. Once I saw the first baseman (Bill Rhinehart) go over to go get it, I kind of saw out of the corner of my eye the pitcher (Steve Schmoll) brake near first and I was like, 'OK, I've got a shot to beat this.'

"Once I'm running up to first base, I can see that I've already passed him. ... I was like, there's no way he's going to beat me there."

Suarez capped off a ninth-inning rally in which the Sea Dogs scored two runs on three hits, including a leadoff home run by Aaron Bates.

Portland's ninth inning was indicative of what Manager Arnie Beyeler believes is his team's strength – the ability to consistently play a complete game.

"You've got to play nine innings, and they just play a hard nine innings every night," Beyeler said. "It would have been kind of easy for them to lay down out there and go one-two-three, but they pride themselves in not giving at-bats away, and I know I preach with them about that, about not giving things away no matter what the score is. Again, they did that."

It's something that's becoming critical for the Sea Dogs with less than three weeks left in the regular season. Portland (66-57) holds a two-game lead over Binghamton (66-61) for second place in the Eastern League's Northern Division, with 17 games remaining for the Sea Dogs.

"We're having a good run right now," Suarez said. "We're confident, and we're backing each other up. Especially after giving up seven runs in the last two innings. We didn't really hit the panic button, and that's a good sign."

n what many feel is a preview of the Southern Division Championship series, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes are making a statement. For the second straight night, the Quakes came through in key situations in a 7-5 win. The victory is their seventh straight and they have now pulled to within four and ½ games of the JetHawks in the race for the best overall record in the Southern Division.

The big Quakes rally came in the fifth inning. The JetHawks were already ahead 2-0 on a two-run double by Jon Still and while Blake Maxwell was sharp through the first four innings, he slipped in the fifth. The Quakes got a two-run homer from Flint Wipke. A walk and an error helped Rancho Cucamonga to three more runs.

Lancaster battled back. Kris Negron singled in a pair of runs in the sixth inning. Down by three in the ninth, Luis Segovia and Jason Place singled to start the inning. A base hit by Ryan Kalish drove in Segovia with a single, but the JetHawks were unable to get the tying runners home.

Kevin Boles didn't quite make it.

With only seven home games left in his first season in Greenville, the Drive manager was ejected for the first time on Friday night at Fluor Field.

It took a controversial, game-turning play in the Drive's 5-1 loss to West Virginia to get Boles tossed.

The game tied at one in the sixth, umpire Seth Buckminster called the Power's Eric Farris safe at the plate, though most in the crowd of 6,039 ó and Boles ó thought Farris was out thanks to an outstanding throw by left-fielder Jered Stanley and a solid tag by catcher Matt Cooney.

Stanley's one-hop throw definitely surprised Farris, who neglected to slide, thinking he would score easily from second on Steffan Wilson's deep single.

"I thought I had him. Everybody in our dugout thought we had him, apparently," Cooney said. "The umpire said (Farris) beat the tag. I don't know if he was out of position, or what."

Though Farris wasn't called out, Boles made sure that he was with some heated comments directed at Buckminster in a confrontation behind the plate.

"I have no comment on that play," said Boles, who was ejected from one road game this year.

The Power scored another run two batters later as the Drive turned a bases-loaded double play. They tacked on two more in the ninth on Anderson De La Rosa's two-run blast over the left-field wall.

Aberdeen (29-28) broke up a pitcher’s duel in the sixth inning as third baseman Tyler Kolodny sliced a homerun just inside the left field foul pole.

Lowell (30-25) came right back to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning as Mitch Dening tripled to deep right-center field and after a Luis Sumoza walk, he scored on a Ricardo Burgos sacrifice fly to left.

One inning later, the Spinners grabbed the lead as Ryan Lavarnway and Kade Keowen drew one-out walks, then TD Banknorth Player of the Game Blocker dropped a sinking liner into centerfield to score Lavarnway on a close play at the plate.

Lowell’s bullpen did the rest, retiring the last six Aberdeen hitters.

Hunter Strickland had arguably his best start of the season, striking out a career-high seven hitters while allowing just two hits in five innings. In his last six starts, Hunter has an ERA of 2.03. Dennis Neuman (2-0, 6.23) picked up his second victory of the season while Mitch Herold chipped in with a scoreless eighth inning. Seth Garrison collected his team-leading seventh save with a 1-2-3 ninth.