PCL1 New Orleans Baby Cakes

Montz's Walk-Off in 16th Gives Zephyrs 11-8 Win

Published on May 9, 2012 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
New Orleans Baby Cakes News Release


Luke Montz's three-run homer in the bottom of the 16th inning lifted the New Orleans Zephyrs to an 11-8 win over the Tucson Padres on Tuesday night at Zephyr Field.

The 16-inning contest matched the longest game in the 16-year history of baseball at the "Shrine on Airline." The Zephyrs previously went 16 innings against Fresno in 2003, and against Memphis in 2006.

New Orleans was one out away from a victory in regulation, but Tucson's Yasmani Grandal laced a two-run single to left to tie the score at 8-8 in the top of the ninth against Rob Delaney.

Grandal's hit capped a comeback for the Padres, who trailed the Z's 8-3 after five innings. After Tucson scored three in the top of the first, two via a home run by Matt Clark, the Zephyrs quickly responded.

Bryan Petersen led off the bottom of the second with a home run to right, and with two outs, Kevin Mattison belted a three-run shot over the fence in right field, propelling the Zephyrs into the lead.

The Z's tacked on three more runs in the third, getting an RBI double from Matt Dominguez, and run-scoring singles from Cole Armstrong and Gil Velazquez.

But after Mattison's RBI single in the fifth gave the Z's an 8-3 lead, Tucson began to chip away, scoring single runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to draw within 8-6.

Delaney allowed a leadoff single to Beamer Weems in the top of the ninth, and a one-out single to Everth Cabrera. A ground out by Alexi Amarista moved the runners up to second and third with two out, setting the stage for Grandal's game-tying single.

It was just the second blown save in 14 attempts by the Zephyrs bullpen this season.

The game remained scoreless through 15 innings, when the Zephyrs ran out of pitchers. Infielder Chase Lambin was called upon to pitch the top of the 16th, and worked around a two-out single to Clark to keep the game tied.

Mattison led off the 16th with a drag bunt past pitcher Brian Tallet, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Donovan Solano. Chris Coghlan worked a walk, and Montz hit a towering drive over the wall in left to provide the Zephyrs with their third walk-off victory of the season.

Lambin earned the unlikely win for New Orleans, while Tallet (0-2) was charged with the loss. Zephyrs starter Brad Hand allowed three runs, all unearned, on two hits in 3 1/3 innings.

The Zephyrs and Padres meet Wednesday at 11:30 a.m., a mere 11 hours after the conclusion of Tuesday's contest. Wade LeBlanc gets the starting nod against his former team for New Orleans, while Jorge Reyes will start for Tucson.

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Pacific Coast League Stories from May 9, 2012


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