Can-Am New Jersey Jackals

Capitales Capitalize on Jackals Blunders to Earn Series Sweep

Published on June 20, 2010 under Canadian American League (Can-Am)
New Jersey Jackals News Release


Little Falls, NJ - Behind a poor defensive performance by the usually sure-handed New Jersey Jackals, the Quebec Capitales plated five unearned runs en route to a 10-4 win to earn a sweep of the three-game series on Sunday afternoon at Yogi Berra Stadium.

The Jackals, who entered the contest with the league' top fielding percentage and a league-low 16 errors, committed a season-high five miscues as they dropped their fourth consecutive contest to fall eight games behind the first-place Capitales in the Can-Am League standings.

In his first appearance of the season, Quebec starter Andy Schon turned in a quality start to earn the win. The right-hander yielded three runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts over six innings. Sean Gregory also contributed two scoreless frames in relief.

Jackals' starter A.J. Wideman surrendered just three singles before a 21-minute rain delay with one out in the fifth inning. After the interruption, Quebec plated five runs, three earned, against Wideman, who departed with one out in the sixth after struggling with his command. Wideman, who struck out a career-high 10 in his previous start last Tuesday at Worcester, fanned just one Quebec batter on Sunday while doling out six walks to triple his total of two over his first four starts of the season.

After a first-inning RBI single by left fielder Jacob Butler gave the Jackals an early 1-0 lead, Quebec broke through against Wideman in the fifth, plating a run against the lefty in the rain-delayed frame. Second baseman Josh Colafemina reached on a one-out fielders' choice and advanced to second on a walk by left fielder Anthony Cros before center fielder Goefrey Tomlinson singled through the left side to even the score at 1-1.

In the bottom of the fifth with the bases loaded, New Jersey first baseman Jabe Bergeron laced a two-run single into left field off the glove of third baseman Morgan Brown to plate a pair of runs as the Jackals regained a 3-1 edge.

From there though, the Capitales scored the game's next seven runs to open up an 8-3 lead. In the sixth, Quebec used three Wideman walks, a throwing error by the New Jersey hurler, and RBI singles from designated hitter Marc Mimeault and Tomlinson to plate four runs and take a 5-3 advantage. Three New Jersey errors in the seventh allowed Quebec to make it 8-3 before the Capitales capped the scoring in the top of the eighth on a two-run single off the bat of Mimeault, who went 4-for-5 with three RBIs in the contest.

Trailing by seven runs with reliever Adam Arnold on for the bottom of the ninth, the Jackals used a leadoff double by catcher Jordan Newton and Butler's second RBI single of the day to cut their deficit to 8-4, but a strikeout and a double play halted the rally and ended the contest.

Offensively for New Jersey, right fielder Kevin Clark beat out a bunt single on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the first. Clark's only hit of the contest in four at-bats extended his hitting streak to 14 games. Center fielder Jeff Grose went 2-for-4 as him and Butler (2-for-4) were the only two Jackals to record multiple hits.

The Jackals (10-12) continue their six-game homestand on Monday at 7:05 p.m. when they host the Worcester Tornadoes in the opener of a three-game set. New Jersey will send right-hander Dan Griffin (1-0, 4.98 ERA) to the mound against rookie righty Matt Giusti (1-3, 6.86 ERA) for Worcester. New Jersey earned an 11-3 win over the Tornadoes last Wednesday night at Hanover Insurance Park when Griffin and Giusti last matched up. Cody Chrusciel has the live call on the Jackals webcast beginning 10 minutes prior to first pitch at www.jackals.com.

Jackal Bites: The teams combined for 21 hits, but Jordan Newton's ninth-inning double was the only extra-base hit in the contest... Newton and third baseman Jovan Rosa each committed two errors... Prior to Sunday, New Jersey hadn't committed more than two errors in any game this season... The Jackals' loss ended A.J. Wideman's three-game winning streak. Wideman went 4-0 with a 1.04 ERA in five starts against Quebec in 2009... New Jersey was playing without designated hitter Shawn Riggans, who was serving a one-game suspension following his ejection Saturday night... Four Quebec starters were out of the lineup, including outfielders Alex Nunez and Sebastian Boucher, third baseman Patrick Deschenes, and first baseman Rene Leveret... In the three-game series, the New Jersey defense turned nine double plays... Rosa went 0-for-4 on Sunday and now has just one hit in his last 30 at-bats... With his two-RBI performance, Jacob Butler has knocked in 17 runs in 13 games this season... The first-place Capitales improved to 18-4 with the win... Andy Schon was on the Sussex Skyhawks' spring training roster, but he did not make the team.

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Canadian American League Stories from June 20, 2010


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