SAL1 Jersey Shore BlueClaws

Blueclaws blanked in loss

Published on July 25, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Jersey Shore BlueClaws News Release


LAKEWOOD, N.J. - The BlueClaws offense was nowhere to be found on Friday night at FirstEnergy Park as Miguel Socolovich and two relievers held the BlueClaws to two hits in a 4-0 Kannapolis victory.

Lakewood, who was no-hit in their last game on Wednesday, did not manage their first hit until the sixth. It had been 15 1/3 hitless innings before Joel Naughton singled off of Socolovich with one out in the sixth. The BlueClaws have gone 23 innings without scoring a run and were shutout in back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Socolovich (4-4), who missed nearly a month on the disabled list with arm trouble, put together his best start of the season. He did not allow a run and gave up just one hit in six innings of work. He struck out three and walked Matt Rizzotti twice.

Rizzotti represented Lakewood's best offensive threats, reaching base three times in four plate appearances. The BlueClaws designated hitter walked twice and also doubled off of reliever Tyson Corley. Rizzotti saw his ten-game hitting streak come to an end on Wednesday.

Walter Tejeda was not at his best on Friday, but did enough to give the BlueClaws a chance to win. The southpaw gave up four runs, three earned, in five innings. Tejeda (4-6) walked three batters, pushing his four-game total to 18 free passes.

The Intimidators broke through against Tejeda in the third, posting three runs on three hits. Tejeda also walked a batter to start the rally. The big hit came from Sergio Morales, who doubled into left-center to break up a scoreless ballgame. Jim Gallagher and Brent Morel each added RBI hits in the frame.

Kannapolis (16-15, 47-54) added one more in the fourth thanks to back-to-back walks followed by an RBI-single from Eduardo Escobar.

The BlueClaws (21-13, 59-45) got another strong performance from their bullpen. This time it was Moises Melendez and Zack Sterner who did the job, combining for four scoreless innings.

The game was played in front of a FirstEnergy Park crowd of 9,527, the second largest crowd in the eight- year history of the park. It was the ninth crowd of over 9,000 in FirstEnergy Park history and the second this season. 9,118 fans showed up for the July 11 game with Greenville.

The BlueClaws will try to snap the losing streak on Saturday night at 7:05, when Mike Stutes makes his Lakewood debut. The right-hander was drafted in the 11th round of the 2008 Draft and made six starts for Williamsport before getting the call to the South Atlantic League. Jason Rice (6-6) will take the hill for Kannapolis.

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 25, 2008


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