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Captains survive to live another day

August 27, 2009 - American Association (AA)
Shreveport-Bossier Captains News Release


PENSACOLA, Fla. - The ninth inning Thursday night began with the Shreveport-Bossier Captains holding a four-run lead over the Pensacola Pelicans, three outs away from a successful start to their mission of a four-game sweep and a playoff berth. It ended with the Captains hanging on for dear life, as Jorge Alvarez squeezed a blooper off the bat of Kevin Reynolds to preserve an 8-7 win and a heart-stopping save for rookie Jakob Cunningham, his fourth of the season.

Antoin Gray led off the ninth with a double, but was still at second after a grounder and pop-up to short. But Dallas Christison singled to right to make it 8-5, Lou Palmisano doubled into the leftfield corner to make it 8-6, Jason Diaz walked and Francisco Leandro doubled to make it 8-7 and put the tying run at third and the winning run at second. But Cunningham's final pitch of the night found the lower part of Reynolds's bat and he blooped it to Alvarez.

The win brought the Captains (47-46, 25-20 2nd half) to within two games of first-place Pensacola (51-42, 27-18), and meant that the possibility of the playoffs was still alive.

Shreveport-Bossier began the attack right away against Dane De Valk, with Bryan Sabatella singling down the third-base line to start the game. He then moved to second on an errant pickoff attempt by De Valk, and to third on a grounder to second by Dwayne White. Christopher Garcia then smoked the first pitch to the right-centerfield gap for an RBI double and a 1-0 Captains lead. Andres Rodriguez followed with a rocket double off the wall in left-center to make it 2-0.

De Valk then got into a groove, retiring 15 of the next 17 hitters into the top of the sixth. In the fourth, his teammates finally got to Salazar, but only after the lefty had thrown nine shutout innings against the Pelicans in his two starts against them. Marshall McDougall led off with a bouncer over Salazar's head that went for an infield single, before Gray grounded one through the left side to put Pensacola on the board. The fourth straight Pelicans hit - a single by Marcos Rodriguez - loaded the bases with no one out. Christison then hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game and send Burch to third with one out, but Salazar reared back and struck out Palmisano and Diaz to end the inning.

The Captains then knocked De Valk out of the game in the sixth. With one out in that frame, Rodriguez doubled down the leftfield line, and just beat centerfielder Leandro's throw to the plate on Alvarez's single in the next at bat. Jose Torres then singled to send Alvarez to third and knock out De Valk, who was charged with four runs on eight hits with no walks and a pair of strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

Into the game came lefty Tyler Wilson, who had not allowed a hit in 7 2/3 previous innings against Shreveport-Bossier this season. But Luis Guance pushed a bunt to the right side for an RBI single to give the Captains their two-run advantage back.

Pensacola threatened again in the bottom of the inning, but with the bases loaded and one out, Salazar struck out Palmisano and Diaz again to keep the Pelicans off the board. The lefty departed after that, allowing eight hits and a walk, but only two runs with seven strikeouts in his six innings.

The Captains got some much-needed breathing room in the seventh against Wilson, with Sabatella leading off with a bunt single. After White successfully sacrificed Sabatella over on a two-strike pitch, Garcia walked, and Rodriguez belted another RBI double, his third two-bagger of the game. With the infield in, Alvarez then blooped one right over the second baseman on the outfield grass for another run to chase Wilson from the game. Ulysses Roque came in and was greeted by a two-run double into the left-center gap to make it 8-2.

But the Pelicans did not go away, as Reynolds singled with one out in the seventh off Tony Pierce. McDougall then singled to send Reynolds to third, and Gray hit a sacrifice fly to the track in right-center to make it 8-3. In the bottom of the eighth, Rodriguez had the third of his three hits to start the inning, and moved to third on a one-out double by Palmisano. In came Matt Petty, and he walked Diaz on four pitches to load the bases, before a sacrifice fly by Francisco Leandro made it 8-4. Petty then walked Reynolds on four straight, forcing the Captains to go to Cunningham. But with the possible tying run at the plate, McDougall popped up the first pitch to left to get the Captains to the ninth, where they were able to hold on by the skin of their teeth to force a meaningful Friday night ballgame.

Notes: Rodriguez and Alvarez were 7-for-10 with four RBIs and four runs scored...Pensacola left 13 men on base in the game...After beating the Captains three straight times earlier this season, De Valk has now lost his last three starts against them...Only three batters in the game did not have a hit...Friday's game will be televised live on CST (Cox Sports Television).

The Shreveport-Bossier Captains continue their four-game series against the Pensacola Pelicans on Friday, August 28 at 6:35 p.m. 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.



American Association Stories from August 27, 2009


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