Captains offense shut down in third straight loss

Published on August 1, 2009 under American Association (AA)
Shreveport-Bossier Captains News Release


SHREVEPORT, La. - After a tough four-game series at El Paso, the comforts of home were not enough for the Shreveport-Bossier Captains Friday night, as the Lincoln Saltdogs held the Captains to only two runs in a 6-2 triumph in front of 1,712 fans at Fair Grounds Field. The two and three hitters in the Lincoln order, Albenis Machado and Phil Hawke combined to go 7-for-9 with a walk and all six runs scored.

Meanwhile, rookie righthander Tim Brown (3-1) shut down the Captains (36-33, 14-7 2nd half) into the eighth inning, allowing two runs on nine hits with no walks and three strikeouts to earn the win in his second start of the season.

Luke Massetti (6-2) started the game by striking out Josh Burrus, but he then allowed four straight singles and a sacrifice fly to give the Saltdogs (34-34, 12-8) a 2-0 lead. Massetti held Lincoln down in the next three innings, but he walked Machado to start the fifth. The Captains righty then threw a ball away trying to pick off Machado, allowing the Lincoln shortstop to go to third. After Hawke singled to make it 3-0, a single and a double play brought him to third with two down. Massetti then threw a wild pitch to give Lincoln a 4-0 lead.

Brown allowed a hit in the first, two hits in the second, but got Angelo Fermin to ground out to end the threat, and then allowed another in the third. He pitched 1-2-3 fourth, and then gave up exactly one hit in each of the next three innings. But in the eighth, the Captains finally got to him, with Bryan Sabatella and Richard Paz beginning the frame with singles. Brown left after that, and lefty Forrest Cory came in to pitch to lefty Christopher Garcia, who was already 3-for-3. Cory had only allowed one hit to a lefty in 11 previous at-bats this season, but Garcia singled up the middle to put the Captains on the board. After a flyout by Andres Rodriguez moved Paz to third, pinch-hitter Jonathan Reynoso grounded into a force out to bring in Paz. After Jose Torres walked, Dwayne White grounded out to end the inning and the threat.

Lincoln tacked on another two runs in the ninth with a two-out rally against Tony Pierce and Matt Petty, who appeared to be having trouble gripping the baseball, throwing eight straight balls to walk in a run. Matt Petrusek then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to end the game.

Notes: This is the first three-game losing streak for the Captains since they lost five in a row from May 28 to June 1...Rodriguez failed to reach base safely in a game for the first time since July 6, the first game of the second half...Shreveport-Bossier did have 10 hits in the game for the 10th time in 11 games...Garcia's first-inning double was the only one of the 23 hits in the game to go for extra bases.

The Shreveport-Bossier Captains continue their three-game series with the Lincoln Saltdogs on Saturday, August 1 at 7:05 p.m., with another Willis-Knighton Turn Back the Clock Night, featuring the Captains in the old throwback uniforms. All games are broadcast on ESPN Radio, KRMD-1340 AM and streamed live on supertalk1340.com, with streaming video provided by NiftyTV on www.sbcaptains.com for all home games and select road games. For information on tickets, promotions, advertising, and other opportunities with the Captains, check out the team's Web site at www.sbcaptains.com, or call the Fair Grounds Field office at (318) 636-5555.

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American Association Stories from August 1, 2009


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