Cards Deal D-Braves 6-5 Loss
July 26, 2012 - Appalachian League (ApL)
Danville Otterbots News Release
DANVILLE, Va. - The Johnson City Cardinals defeated the Danville Braves 6-5 Thursday night at American Legion Post 325 Field in their first match-up since eliminating the D-Braves in the first round of postseason play last year. The loss extends the Braves losing streak to six-games, their longest such streak of the season.
In their first at-bats, the Braves made Cardinals starter Victor De Leon labor hard. They worked him for a 22-pitch first inning. Designated hitter Jose Peraza worked a five-pitch walk and advanced to second on a headfirst slide. Peraza has been perfect on the base paths of late with five stolen bases in five attempts. Second baseman Levi Hyams hit into a productive groundout, which pushed Peraza to third before third baseman Carlos Franco plated him to open the scoring. Franco, and the Braves, got lucky when Cardinals shortstop, Cesar Valera, bobbled the ball off the heel of his glove, which allowed Peraza to score on the play.
But the Cards knotted the game at one in the second. Carson Kelly hit an opposite field solo homerun for his fifth homer in seven ballgames. Kelly leads the Cards' with seven homeruns on the season.
The Braves put the first four men on base in their second at-bats. Left fielder Edison Sanchez was hit-by-a-pitch. On a bum knee, Sanchez hobbled to third from first on a double by center fielder Blake Brown. With a hitter's count, catcher Nick De Santiago then went the other way for a two-run double, the second consecutive double of the inning, and the Braves retook the lead 3-1. Shortstop Ronald Luna then singled to extend his hit streak to three games before Peraza perfectly executed a sacrifice bunt to score De Santiago and cap the three-run inning.
In the fourth, designated hitter Bruce Caldwell cracked a leadoff double. Braves starter Frank LaFreniere issued his first walk of the evening to Kelly. Left fielder Ronald Castillo loaded the bases on a seeing-eye single. With no outs and the table set, Valera cut the lead in half on an RBI single. With the bases still loaded, catcher Steve Bean hit into a 5-4-3 twin killing, but the Cards crept within a run on the play.
Cards first baseman, Jeremy Schaffer, a last-minute addition to the line-up, hit a long ball to tie it at four all in the fifth.
Luna led off the sixth with his second single of the game. He then stole second and advanced to third on an opposite field groundout. Hyams struck-out looking, but the Braves plated the go-ahead run on an errant pickoff throw by Mike Aldrete. Aldrete overthrew his second baseman and the ball fell to the outfield grass for a costly error.
But the Cards tied the game again in the seventh, their third time doing so in the game. Right fielder Lance Jeffries, Jr. walked, nabbed second base, and then advanced to third on a productive groundout. And Schaffer, who tied the game on a solo home run in the fifth, tied it at five in the seventh on an RBI single.
With the game tied 5-5 at the end of regulation, extra innings ensued. Braves long relief man, Alex Wilson, sat down eight Cardinal batters in a row before the Cards took the lead for the first time in the game in the 10th inning. Castillo hit a routine fly ball, but Marte lost it in the lights and misplayed it, which allowed Castillo to reach second. Valera then singled him home to give the Cards a 6-5 lead.
After 45 pitches, the Braves chased De Leon from the game, and the Cards burned through their bullpen early. De Leon lasted 1 2/3 innings and allowed four runs (all earned) on four hits. LaFreniere left after the fifth and the Braves handed the ball to Rafael Briceno. LaFreniere pitched 5.0 innings and allowed four runs (all earned) on eight hits, including two home runs. Briceno threw 2.0 innings and allowed one run (earned) on three hits. Wilson pitched 3.0 innings and allowed one run (unearned) on just three hits, but suffered the loss. Wilson also recorded a season-high five strikeouts in the outing. Jeffrey Rauh (3-1) is the pitcher of record for the Cards and earned his third win of the season. Closer Ronald Shaban is credited with his ninth save of the season, which leads the Appy League.
Williams Perez will toe the rubber tomorrow for the D-Braves. The Cards will counter with righty Silfredo Garcia.
Tomorrow night's game is National Hot Dog Day. All ballpark franks will be sold for 50 cents a dawg. Game time is 7:00 p.m. and gates will open at 6:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased to all future home games by calling the Ticket Office at (434) 797-3792 or in-person at the ALP 325 Field Box Office (Mon. - Fri., 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.).
• Discuss this story on the Appalachian League message board...
Appalachian League Stories from July 26, 2012
- Cards Deal D-Braves 6-5 Loss - Danville Otterbots
- Mariners Bats Quiet, Fall to Burlington 9-2 - Pulaski Mariners
- Pulaski Mariners to host Kids Night at Calfee Park - Pulaski Mariners
- Mariners to Hold Cornhole Tournament at Calfee Park - Pulaski Mariners
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
