Spinners Lose Control of Destiny
September 1, 2013 - New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Lowell Spinners News Release
LOWELL, MASS. - Things were looking good for the Lowell Spinners after an inning Sunday evening, scoring four runs against New York-Penn League earned run average leader Michael Feliz, but the Tri-City ValleyCats battled back for a 7-4 win, retaking first place in the Stedler Division in the regular season home finale at LeLacheur Park.
The loss dropped the Spinners a half-game back of the Stedler Division lead, one night after retaking the division lead with a win Saturday night. Lowell also is keeping an eye on the Wild Card, as they are just a game back of Jamestown with three games to play for all.
Lowell (40-30) got to Feliz in the first inning, rattling the ValleyCats ace. With one out, Jake Romanski was hit by a pitch and Manuel Margot followed with a single. A Kevin Mager single scored Romanski and Mager moved to second on the throw. After Feliz intentionally walked Danny Bethea, Nathan Minnich singled to left, scoring both Margot and Mager to give the Spinners a 3-0 lead. Lin followed with a hard hit ball under the shortstop's glove, scoring Bethea to give the Spinners an early commanding lead.
Tri-City (42-31) would pull even in the third inning, the only inning Jamie Callahan would struggle. A leadoff walk to Jon Kemmer started the inning and singles by Jake Rodriguez and Chan Moon loaded the bases. James Ramesy followed with a single to left, as the ValleyCats plated one with station-to-station baseball. A Ryan Dineen sacrifice fly cut the lead in half, and Callahan walked Tyler White to re-load the bases. Conrad Gregor came through with a single to left, scoring Moon and Ramsey to tie the score at four.
As Feliz breezed through the Spinners line-up after a rough first inning, the ValleyCats took the lead in the seventh inning. After a one-out walk by White, Gregor doubled to center to put two men in scoring position. Ronnie Mitchell followed with a single to the hole at second when Carlos Asuaje went to turn a double play, only to realize there was no runner on first, scoring White with the go ahead run.
The ValleyCats would add two insurance runs in the eighth inning, taking advantage of a fielding error by Nick Moore allowed a run to score and a Gregor sacrifice fly pushed the lead to 7-4.
The Spinners had a chance in the ninth inning, as Minnich singled and Lin walked, but Gonzalo Sanudo battled back to strike out Moore, pinch-hitter Jose Colorado and Carlos Asuaje to end the game.
Offensively, Feliz held the Spinners at bay, retiring 18-of-19 at one point after a four hit first inning. Minnich led the offense with two hits and two RBI, while Asuaje extended his home on-base streak with a walk, now having reached base in 23 straight games at LeLacheur Park.
Callahan didn't allow a hit in the first two innings, but lost his control in the third, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks over 3.2 innings. He struck out five. Jonathan Aro was charged with the loss, allowing three runs (two earned) in 3.2 innings. He allowed six hits, walked three and struck out three. Taylor Grover pitched the final 1.2 innings, allowing one hit while walking one. He struck out three.
The season comes down to the final three games in Aberdeen, where the Spinners face the McNamara division leading IronBirds, who hold a 1.5 lead over the Brooklyn Cyclones. The Cyclones will travel to Troy, NY for a three game set with Tri-City, while Wild Card leading Jamestown hosts the Pinckney Division leading State College Spikes. The Spinners will depart early Monday morning for Aberdeen and throw Daniel McGrath to start the all important series.
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New York-Penn League Stories from September 1, 2013
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- Long Ball Sinks Spikes in 10-0 Loss to Doubledays - State College Spikes
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- Game Notes: IronBirds at Cyclones - Aberdeen IronBirds
- State College Spikes Game Notes - September 1 at Auburn - State College Spikes
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