Z's fight back only to fall short

In a game marred by a benches-clearing brawl, the Memphis Redbirds extinguished a ninth-inning rally by the New Orleans Zephyrs for the second straight night and took their third consecutive win in the series, 4-3.

New Orleans trailed 4-2 entering the ninth, but back-to-back walks to Elliot Soto and Robert Andino were followed by a run-scoring single from Don Kelly to bring the Z's within one.

Miguel Socolovich relieved Dean Kiekhefer and struck out Xavier Scruggs and Destin Hood before inducing a game-ending grounder from Matt Juengel to preserve his second save and the Redbirds' third win in a row over New Orleans.

Austin Nola homered for the second straight game, giving him a career-high four long balls on the year, and drove in each of the Zephyrs' first two runs as the Z's led 2-0 in the sixth.

Zephyrs starter Jose Urena was ejected along with five others after his pitch to Jeremy Hazelbaker sailed high and inside in the fifth inning, resulting in both benches emptying.

The Redbirds capitalized on Urena's absense, scoring twice in the bottom of the sixth to tie and twice more an inning later on David Washington's two-run homer, his 13th of the year, to take the lead. All of the runs were charged to Craig Breslow (0-3), whose ERA ballooned to 7.91.

John Brebbia (1-2) worked a scoreless inning of relief and was credited with the victory.

New Orleans finished 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base.

The teams conclude the series on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.