Knecht, Cicatello lead Leafs in London

LONDON – Marcus Knecht's third home run of the season set the tone in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 6-4 win over the London Majors Friday night at Labatt Park.

Knecht took Juliandry Higuera deep after Grant Tamane and Justin Marra reached base to start the game. Marra finished 3-for-5, Tamane singled and scored twice, Zach Orchard had two hits, an RBI and a run, and Damon Topolie went 3-for-4.

Justin Cicatello (1-0) went 7.2 innings for the win, allowing four runs on four hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. Marek Deska recorded the final four outs for his first save. He gave up one hit and picked up a strikeout.

Ismael Pena drove in two of London's runs. Cleveland Brownlee and Mike Ambrose had the other RBIs.

Higuera (1-2) took the loss, giving up six runs (three earned) on seven hits over five innings. He walked two and struck out five.

Toronto improved to 4-5, and London dropped to 2-6.