Extra-inning homer decides Triple-A stars

PAWTUCKET, R.I. — Andy Phillips of the Columbus Clippers hit a two-out home run in the 10th inning to give the International League a 4-3 victory over the Pacific Coast League in the Triple-A All-Star Game Wednesday night.

Tacoma right-hander Scott Atchison, a Seattle Mariners prospect, retired the first two batters in the 10th, and then Phillips crushed a 1-and-0 pitch into the left field berm at McCoy Stadium. It was the first time in the game’s history that it went into extra innings.

Phillips, a Yankees prospect, was voted the game’s most valuable player.

According to Triple-A rules, the game would have been recorded as a tie if neither team led after the 10th inning.

Richmond’s Matt Whiteside earned the victory by pitching 12/3 innings of perfect ball. Whiteside struck out three.

Omaha’s Calvin Pickering scored on a passed ball in the ninth inning to tie the game at 3-3.

Durham’s Midre Cummings hit a solo home run in the eighth inning off Sacramento’s Ron Flores to give the International League a 3-2 lead.

Cummings also made the game’s most outstanding defensive play, in the top of the eighth inning, when he leaped on the warning track in center field and robbed Colorado Springs’ Erick Almonte of at least a double.