Starter Giancarlo Alvarado notched his fourth straight home win as the Albuquerque Isotopes (54-47) held on for a 4-2 win over the Iowa Cubs (52-49) Sunday evening at Isotopes Park. Alvarado surrendered just two runs over 7.1 innings to improve his record to an even 8-8 while limiting the opposition to two runs or fewer in six of his last seven outings. The Isotopes scored all their runs via doubles, recording six on the night, all over the span of two innings to back Alvarado with just enough offensive support.While Alvarado, who checks in at second in the league with 107 strikeouts, only fanned three, the right-hander allowed just one walk. The free pass accounted for the I-Cubs first run as Sam Fuld opened the game with the base on balls before Aaron Miles followed with an RBI double down the right-field line that established a quick 1-0 lead for the visitors.
Alvarado kicked into composure from there, sitting down the next three batters and facing the minimum through the fourth inning.
A trio of doubles in the bottom of the fourth put Albuquerque ahead in no time as Brett Harper and J.D. Closser smacked back-to-back two-baggers to lead off the frame. After Harper, who reached base in all four of his at-bats on the night, laced a double right center, Closser tied up the game with one to left center.
Two outs later, Sergio Garcia walked and Alvarado reached on a fielder's choice after Cubs shortstop Darwin Barney attempted to cut Garcia down at second only to have Garcia slide in safely. With the bags full, Tony Abreu delivered another double to put the 'Topes ahead 3-1.
Alvarado gave up consecutive singles to open the fifth inning, putting runners on the corners with no outs, but came away with just one run of damage, a sacrifice fly from Barney that pulled Iowa within one, 3-2.
The 'Topes grabbed the tally back in their portion of the fifth, an inning that could have been much worse for Cubs starter Esmailin Caridad (5-10) if not for some reckless base-running by Albuquerque. For the second straight inning, the Isotopes collected three doubles and again used consecutive two-baggers to start the frame. Dee Brown started the inning with a double but was cut down trying to stretch two into three. Harper then followed with his fifth double in just nine games as an Isotope and Closser added a base knock but was thrown out trying to stretch his single into a two-base hit. Jamie Hoffmann then proceeded to extend his hitting streak to 14 contests with an RBI double, scoring Harper and bolstering the advantage to 4-2. Caridad finished off the inning without further damage to keep Albuquerque's lead to just a pair of runs.
The duo of Travis Schlichting and Scott Strickland preserved the win as Schlichting used 11 pitches in the eighth with two runners on to secure two outs. Strickland, assisted by some flashy defense by Abreu, earned his 21st save with a scoreless ninth.
After a quick turnaround, the 'Topes will wrap up their series with the I-Cubs tomorrow at 12:05 PM with left-hander Eric Stults (3-1, 3.86) on the mound for Albuquerque against Iowa righty Jose Ascanio (2-3, 3.91). All of tomorrow's action can be caught on 1050-AM KTBL, starting with the Charlie's Sporting Goods pre-game show at 11:50 AM.
The Isotopes conclude their four-game series against the Iowa Cubs, Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs with another of the team's immensely popular Business Person's Specials! Tickets for any Isotopes game may be purchased at the Isotopes Park Box Office, at Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 1-800-745-3000, or on-line at www.albuquerquebaseball.com or www.ticketmaster.com.
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