Barnstormers Take Advantage Of Bounce, Errors To Rally
August 11, 2018 - Atlantic League (AtL)
Lancaster Stormers News Release
There are nights when the baseball bounces your way. Saturday was one of those times for the Lancaster Barnstormers.
Lancaster escaped a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh when an apparent wild pitch turned into the third out, and the Barnstormers took advantage of two New Britain errors in the top of the ninth to pull out a 5-3 victory in a rain-delayed contest Saturday evening at New Britain Stadium.
The win reestablished Lancaster's five-game lead in the wild card race.
Jimmy Paredes led off the ninth against Evan Scribner (1-3) with a single to center. Trayvon Robinson bunted back toward the hill. Scribner originally mishandled the bunt, then made a wild throw to first, enabling pinch runner Carlos Garcia to take third. After Scribner struck out K.C. Hobson, Robinson stole second. Vladimir Frias drilled a liner to left center which would have likely scored Garcia from third with the tying run, but center fielder Darren Ford missed the ball for a two-base error as Robinson scored as well. Noel picked up Frias was a single up the middle for a 5-3 lead.
Matt Reynolds retired the side in order in the ninth for his 20th save.
The Barnstormers took an early lead on a sacrifice fly by Robinson in the second and an RBI single to right by Ryan Casteel in the third. The offense went quiet, and, for the second straight night, New Britain rallied.
Two walks, a sacrifice bunt and Ford's RBI grounder produced the first run off starter Jonathan Albaladejo in the fifth. In the sixth, Deibinson Romero drilled a double to left to start the inning. Jason Rogers' grounder rolled under Frias' glove for an error as the tying run scored. Garrett Granitz took over, yielding a run-scoring double by Jovan Rosa that gave New Britain the lead. James Skelton singled to center with Rosa holding at third, and Jonathan Galvez grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.
Luke Westphal loaded the bases in the seventh on a single and two walks. Johnson (3-0) took over. His first pitch went right to the backstop and kicked back to Casteel. Ford, who started toward the plate was caught in the rundown to top off the inning.
Johnson struck out the side in the eighth.
The rubber game of the series will be played late Sunday afternoon. John Anderson (2-2) will get the start for Lancaster against Kyle Simon (7-5).
NOTES: Blake Gailen singled in the third to extend his hitting streak to six...Darian Sandford had two more hits and is now 22-for-58 over the last 14 games...Rico Noel picked up his 39th steal of the year.
Atlantic League Stories from August 11, 2018
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