BURLINGTON, VT --- Jack McGeary and two relievers combined on a one-hit shutout as the Vermont Lake Monsters scored four runs in the third innning and three more runs in the fifth to defeat the Hudson Valley Renegades 8-0 in New York-Penn League action Saturday at historic Centennial Field.McGeary (1-0) allowed just a one-out single in the fifth over his six innings of work. The left-hander, who had entered the game with eight walks in 10 1/3 innings over his first two starts, walked just two on Saturday and struckout four. The Hudson Valley single from Gabe Cohen in the fifth would be the Renegades last baserunner of the game as McGeary along with relievers Pat Lehman (two innings) and Evan Bronson (one innning) would retire the final 14 Hudson Valley batters in order.
Vermont would get all the runs they would need in the third inning with four unearned runs. After the Lake Monsters loaded the bases with two outs, J.R. Higley hit a sinking line drive to short that Diogenes Luis was unable to handle for a run-scoring error. Dan Killian followed with an RBI infield single to third base that scored Francisco Soriano, while Nicol and Higley scored as third baseman Burt Reynolds throw went down the rightfield line.
The Lake Monsters added three more runs in the fifth, including a Dan Killian RBI double and a Justin Bloxom RBI single, for a 7-0 lead. Bloxom added another RBI single in the sixth inning to close out the scoring.
Nicol finished the game 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a double, while Killian was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI as the Lake Monsters outhit the Rengades 11-1. Hudson Valley starter Aaron Dott (0-2) allowed seven runs (three earned) on seven hits with five walks and one strikeout to take the loss.
The win was the third in four games for the Lake Monsters in the six-game series with Hudson Valley (5-10) and it moved Vermont (8-7) over the .500 mark for the first time this season. The last time that the Lake Monsters were over .500 had July 25, 2008 when Vermont was 18-17.
The shutout was the third of the season for Vermont pitchers, all coming in the last eight games. The Lake Monsters are 6-2 in those eight games and allowed just six earned runs over 62 innings during that stretch (a 0.87 ERA).
Vermont will host Hudson Valley again on Sunday evening at Centennial Field beginning at 5:05 pm with Kyle Morrison scheduled to start for the Lake Monsters. The first 1,000 fans at Sunday's game will receive a free waterbottle courtsey of FanRanter.com and everyone is invited to "Have A Catch" on the field following the game.
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