Armada Edges Outlaws 6-5
August 9, 2007 - Golden Baseball League (GBL)
Chico Outlaws News Release
CHICO, CA - Jaime Martinez' fourth RBI of the game - a 6th inning single to plate Johnny Kaplan - proved to be the difference as the Long Beach Armada nipped the Chico Outlaws 6-5 Wednesday night at Nettleton Stadium...the Armada extending their current winning streak to six while handing the Outlaws their fifth straight defeat.
Long Beach opened the scoring in the 2nd inning, combining two singles, two Chico errors and a Kaplan sacrifice fly to take an early 2-0 lead...but the Outlaws knotted up the score in the bottom of the 2nd when Daniel Nava scored from third on a wild pitch by Armada starter Jeff Heaverlo and Scott Dragicevich came home on a Jason Matteucci single. Chico went up 4-2 in the 4th when Jason Van Meetren walked to lead off the inning, went to third on a Todd Gossage double and scored on Matteucci's groundout to first...Gossage later came home on Eric Pringle's high chopper back to the mound.
Long Beach answered back immediately in the top of the 5th - Kaplan and Chris Klemm led off the inning with singles...then Martinez blasted his 10th home run of the season over the center field fence, putting the Armada back in front 5-4. Chico tied the score in the bottom of the 5th when Van Meetren singled home Craig Kuzmic, but that would be the Outlaws last hurrah offensively...they would get just one runner aboard for the rest of the game. Long Beach scored what turned out to be the winning run in the 6th against Chico starter Derrick Loop - Kaplan walked with one out and went to third on an errant pickoff throw by Kuzmic...Martinez then lined a single to center to plate Kaplan and put the Armada back on top 6-5. Heaverlo combined with relievers Sean Buller and Dane de la Rosa to shut down the Outlaws the rest of the way...de la Rosa striking out the side in the bottom of the 9th to end it and give Long Beach its seventh win over Chico in 10 tries this year.
Heaverlo (6-4) went seven innings to pick up the win, with de la Rosa notching his 13th save of the season...Loop (7-4) took the loss despite allowing just three earned runs in six innings of work. Martinez was 3-for-4 to lead Long Beach's eight hit attack; Chico had six hits on the night, but no Outlaws starter had more than one hit. Wednesday's loss drops Chico 6-15 and into last place in the GBL's second half standings...overall, the Outlaws are now 31-28. The Armada improved to 18-3 in the second half and 41-18 for the year. Chico tries to avoid the sweep in Thursday's series finale - right-hander Daniel "Duck" Howard (0-0) will be on the mound for the Outlaws, with righty Ryan Claypool (6-2) getting the start for the Armada. Game time is 7:05pm...hear all the action with "The Voice" of the Outlaws, Rory Miller, beginning at 6:35pm on the internet or on SportsFan 101.7 FM ESPN Radio.
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Golden Baseball League Stories from August 9, 2007
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- Armada Edges Outlaws 6-5 - Chico Outlaws
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