Sports stats



Rock Cats Hold on, Win 7-6 over Reading

July 22, 2008 - Eastern League (EL1)
New Britain Rock Cats News Release


New Britain, CT - Felix Molina blasted a two-run homer that capped off a dramatic comeback and an appeal at third in the top of the ninth erased the would-be tying run as the Rock Cats held on for a 7-6 win over Reading on Tuesday afternoon.

The game appeared to be tied in the top of the ninth when Reading's Lou Marson crossed home plate. Marson had reached base on a single that moved Greg Golson to second base. Jeremy Slayden then singled to center field, scoring Golson and moving Marson to third. Neil Sellers then hit a shot to right field where Matt Moses made a spectacular catch for the second out. It appeared that the game was tied when Marson crossed home plate, but the Rock Cats threw to third base to appeal Marson left the bag early. The umpire signaled out and the game ended.

In the seventh inning, Moses led off with a single and stole second. Molina then stepped to the plate with one out and drove a Pat Overholt pitch over the right field wall to put the Rock Cats ahead for the first time since the third inning.

The Rock Cats jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Drew Butera led off the third inning with a solo home run to left field. The lead quickly vanished with a four-run inning by the R-Phils in the fourth.

Rock Cats starter Jay Rainville first ran into trouble in the third inning when he retired the first two men he faced, but walked three consecutive batters to load the bases. Rainville bounced back to strikeout Jeremy Slayden to end the inning. In the fourth, the R-Phils came out swinging. Brad Harman and Clay Harris hit back-to-back singles before Jake Blalock slammed a three-run shot to left field. Greg Golson added an RBI double to put the R-Phils ahead, 4-1 and knock Rainville out of the game.

Brock Peterson delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead in half, 4-2. In the sixth, Peterson led a comeback by the ‘Cats. Danny Valencia started things off by drawing a walk to open the inning. He moved to second on a single by Erik Lis and advanced to third on a wild pitch. David Winfree then launched a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed Valencia to score. Peterson followed with an RBI double that knocked Reading's Edgar Garcia out of the game. Peterson scored on Toby Gardenhire's single to tie the game, 5-5.

Armando Gabino (5-4) limited the R-Phils to three hits and one run in 3 1/3 innings in relief. Frank Mata added a perfect eighth and Ben Julianel escaped the ninth inning scare to notch his 21st save. Overholt (3-6) suffered the loss for Reading.



Eastern League Stories from July 22, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central