'Cats end slide in pitchers' duel
August 28, 2010 - New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Tri-City ValleyCats News Release
TROY, NY- The ValleyCats were swept by Hudson Valley on the road, and turned around to face the Renegades again at Joe Bruno Stadium on Saturday. They stopped their slide and turned the tables on Hudson Valley by relying on their biggest strength: the pitching staff.
Tri-City only scored two runs, both aided by errors, but made sure they were enough. Carlos Quevedo allowed just one score in 5.2 innings of work and the bullpen held the visitors without a run the rest of the way.
5,488 fans were on hand to see the pitchers' duel, the third-largest crowd at Joe Bruno Stadium this season and the 13th-largest ever.
Quevedo uncharacteristically went to four 3-0 counts and walked two batters - the first time he has issued more than one free pass in a start this season. The second one hurt, as Diogenes Luis led off the sixth with a five-pitch walk, stole second and advanced to third on a lineout to right. Brandt Walker was called upon with two outs to retire Nick Schwaner, but the left fielderer drilled a single up the middle to plate Luis with the Renegades' first and only run.
Alejandro Torres followed Schwaner's base hit with a double of his own, putting a pair of runners in scoring position for Elias Otero, who lined out to end the threat. One inning prior, a single and double put runners on second and third with one out, but Quevedo fanned Chris Winder and retired Robby Price to escape.
Prior to the fifth, Quevedo was nearly untouchable. A leadoff single by Robby Price off Quevedo's leg was the only hit the Renegades managed in the first four innings. Quevedo fanned five on the night.
The ValleyCats struck first, managing one run off Zachary Rosscup in a long second inning. Marcus Nidiffer lined a single to left with one out. Mike Kvasnicka hit a hard grounder right at the third baseman Otero, which looked like a double-play ball, but he raised his glove too quickly and the ball bounced into left field. Two batters later, Adam Bailey drove a grounder through the middle, bringing home Nidiffer to break the scoreless tie.
Kvasnicka again was the beneficiary of an error in the fourth. With two outs, he hit another grounder to Otero. This time, the third baseman fielded the ball cleanly, but his throw was high and pulled first baseman Steve Tinoco off the bag. Chris Wallace followed with a double to left and Kvasnicka, who was running on the pitch, scored easily.
Reliever Omar Bencomo threw four innings and held the 'Cats scoreless. In his first frame, Ben Orloff drew a one-out walk and Oscar Figueroa - hitting in the spot of Kiké Hernandez, who left the game after rolling his ankle in the first - lined a single to left. But Bencomo fanned Tyler Burnett and retired Dan Adamson to end the inning.
Kvasnicka and Figueroa managed hits off Bencomo later in the game, but neither would advance past first base.
The Renegades threatened to tie the game in the seventh inning, after Brandt Walker and Travis Blankenship each issued one-out walks. Blankenship fell behind Luis 1-0 but induced a grounder up the middle; Orloff snared the ball, stepped on second and threw to first to complete the inning-ending double play.
Jorge De Leon retired the final four batters in order, fanning three, to earn his sixth save of the season. The win was Quevedo's sixth, a team high.
The Renegades (33-32) return to Joe Bruno Stadium tomorrow at 5 pm to face the 'Cats (33-33) for the fifth consecutive time.
New York-Penn League Stories from August 28, 2010
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