Culver delivers walk-off winner in ninth

Cito Culver's single in the bottom of the ninth inning scored the game-winning run as the New Orleans Baby Cakes beat the Oklahoma City Dodgers, 2-1 on Sunday afternoon.
Starting pitchers Brock Stewart and Odrisamer Despaigne dueled in a scoreless draw until the 'Cakes broke through against the Dodgers bullpen in the seventh. Tomas Telis reached on an infield single to lead off and advanced to second when Breyvic Valera's throw skipped past the first baseman. Telis moved to third on an ground out, and scored on Jon Rodriguez's single to right.
Ben Meyer, who had relieved Despaigne in the sixth, had allowed one hit to the first 10 batters he faced before Andrew Toles belted a two-out home run in the eighth to knot the score at 1-1. It was the second home run in as many days for Toles, who also doubled in the first and is 14-for-24 in a stretch of six consecutive multi-hit games.
Facing Chalmette native Joe Broussard in the ninth, Telis drew a one-out walk and Cristhian Adames singled, with both runners advancing a base on a passed ball. Broussard (4-3) recovered to strike out Rodriguez for the second out, but Culver grounded a single past the third baseman to score Telis and give New Orleans its fifth walk-off victory of the season.
Both teams struggled to capitalize on scoring opportunities, with the Dodgers going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and the 'Cakes finishing 2-for-9. The teams combined to strand 17 baserunners.
Stewart scattered six hits in six innings and fanned three, and Despaigne yielded five hits in five innings with five strikeouts. Neither starter issued a walk.
Javy Guerra (2-0) worked out of trouble in the top of the ninth to earn the victory and kept his scoreless innings streak intact, having pitched 14 2/3 innings without allowing a run this year and 23 shutout frames with New Orleans dating back to last season.
The Baby Cakes and Dodgers continue the six-game series on Monday at 7 p.m.