Bullpen Falters Late in 4-3 Setback
Published on July 24, 2012 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Augusta GreenJackets News Release
Lexington, KY - The Augusta GreenJackets couldn't hold a two-run lead with six outs to go on Tuesday night. The Lexington Legends tied the game in the eighth inning and won it in the ninth on Luis Alvarez's RBI single to sink the GreenJackets 4-3. The loss is Augusta's fourth straight on the current eight-game road trip - all in games the GreenJackets led at one point.
Leading 3-1 in the eighth, the GreenJackets sent Derek Law to the mound to try and hold the lead. After a leadoff walk and a base hit put runners at second and third, Nolan Fontana's RBI single cut Augusta's lead to 3-2. Zach Johnson followed with an RBI single to tie the game at three.
After the GreenJackets came up empty in the ninth, Lexington put the winning run on base to open the ninth. Mike Kvasnicka singled to open the inning and took second on a sacrifice bunt. After Jordan Scott walked, Luis Alvarez - who came in as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth - drilled the game-winning single into the left field corner in his first at-bat of the game to give the Legends the win.
Lexington's late game heroics spoiled a great effort by Augusta starter Clayton Blackburn, who allowed a run on three hits in seven innings, walking one and striking out seven. After the GreenJackets gave him an early 1-0 lead on a first-inning RBI single from Devin Harris, Blackburn retired ten straight before the Legends touched him up in the fourth. With runners at first and second and two outs, Brandon Meredith's RBI single tied the game at one.
The game stayed deadlocked at one into the eighth inning because of the fine work of both starting pitchers. Blackburn fired seven strong innings while Lexington starter Jonas Dufek matched the feat - retiring 12 in a row before he got into a jam in the eighth. Kelby Tomlinson singled to break the streak of 12 retired in a row and took second on a sacrifice bunt. Shawn Payne tripled off the wall in left-center to score Tomlinson as the go-ahead run. When Lexington center fielder Justin Gominsky overran the ball, Payne scored to make it a 3-1 game - which proved to be a short-lived lead for Augusta.
Law (5-2) allowed three runs in 1.1 innings of relief to take the loss while the win went to Mitchell Lambson (2-1), who allowed one hit in 1.2 innings to get the win.
The GreenJackets will try to snap their losing streak on Wednesday night in the third game of the four-game series against the Legends. First pitch from Lexington comes at 7:05 p.m. with radio pregame coverage beginning at 6:50 p.m. on ESPN Radio 1340 AM and online at www.greenjacketsbaseball.com.
The GreenJackets return home on Friday July 27th to open a three-game series with the Hickory Crawdads at 7:05 p.m. Single-game tickets for any GreenJackets home game are currently available by calling the GreenJackets front office at 706-922-WINS and online at www.greenjacketsbaseball.com.
South Atlantic League Stories from July 24, 2012
- Simon Shines as T's Blast Season-High 22 Hits in 16-3 Win - Asheville Tourists
- Shorebirds Slide Past Crawdads, 7-3 - Hickory Crawdads
- Legends' Homestand Continues; Includes Two Fireworks Shows, Military Appreciation and More - Lexington Legends
- Gnats Blast Intimidators 8-1 Tuesday - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Streaking Legends Take Walk-Off Win on Alvarez' Hit in 9th - Lexington Legends
- Shorebirds Level Series with 7-3 Win over Crawdads - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Bullpen Falters Late in 4-3 Setback - Augusta GreenJackets
- Rome's Pitching Stifles RiverDogs Again - Charleston RiverDogs
- Suns Roll Past BlueClaws, 6-2 - Hagerstown Suns
- BlueClaws Drop Third Straight, 6-2 - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Shorebirds Game Notes: at Hickory - Delmarva Shorebirds
- Crawdads Weekly - 1st-Place 'Dads Continue Eight-Game Homestand - Hickory Crawdads
- Power Game Notes - Charleston Dirty Birds
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