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Wheeler Strikes out Nine as Rock Cats Sweep Harrisburg; Win 7-2

August 17, 2014 - Eastern League (EL1)
New Britain Rock Cats News Release


New Britain, CT - The New Britain Rock Cats defeated the Harrisburg Senators by the score of 7-2 on Sunday afternoon at New Britain Stadium.

The win marks the fourth straight and completes a 6-1 homestand.

The Rock Cats jumped out to a 2-0 lead after playing two scoreless innings. LF Eddie Rosario hooked a long drive around the foul pole in right field for his sixth home run of the season. The blast off of Harrisburg starter LHP Zach Kroenke also scored 2B Levi Michael, who singled to center to lead off the inning.

New Britain starter LHP Jason Wheeler was superb in the victory - racking up nine strikeouts over five innings of work, including eight in the first three frames. The big southpaw also only allowed one hit on the day, resulting in just one hit given up by Rock Cats starters over the last twelve innings.

The home club broke open the game in the bottom of the seventh, seeing their lead increase to 7-0. SS Jorge Polanco cracked a base hit out to left with runners on second and third, scoring RF Tony Thomas. CF Corey Wimberly followed up with a three-run triple that snuck by LF Drew Vettleson, giving New Britain a sizeable lead.

Harrisburg started to chip away in the top half of the eighth, hanging two runs on two hits against LHP Ryan O'Rourke. 2B Cutter Dykstra's productive fielder's choice scored C Cole Leonida while DH Kevin Keyes doubled to the left field corner to score Dykstra from second.

The Senators picked up one last run on a 1-2 count with two outs in the top of the ninth on a fly ball that fell just inside the foul line in right field.

Kroenke, who has logged Major League time with Arizona, did a great job of spreading nine hits over five innings, allowing just the two runs on the Rosario home run. He also walked one and registered one strike out in the losing effort, seeing his record fall to 2-7.

The Rock Cats hit the highway starting Monday for their final regular season road trip of 2014. The eleven day trip includes stops in Richmond, VA, Altoona, PA and Binghamton, NY - with the first game coming Tuesday evening against the Flying Squirrels. The night will be a doubleheader of sorts as fans will see a continuation of a suspended game that was originally played in New Britain back on May 22nd and it will be followed by the regularly scheduled contest.

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