Cats Held to One RBI, Fall to Prairie Dogs 7-3
June 17, 2012 - North American League (NAmL)
Fort Worth Cats News Release
CJ Beatty was responsible for the only run batted in for the Fort Worth Cats, which was on a solo homerun in the third inning in Sunday's 7-3 loss to the Abilene Prairie Dogs at LaGrave Field. Beatty's solo shot was his only hit of the ballgame.
The Cats' lineup, known for putting up many runs on the board, was held to only three runs on seven hits. Left fielder Chad Gabriel was the only hitter to reach on base hits multiple times with his two singles. The bottom five Fort Worth hitters hit a combined 2-for-19 with one run scored.
Fort Worth's hitters were at the mercy of Abilene's dominant pitching once again in this series. Starter Brian Smith (3-1) pitched six innings and gave up two runs on five hits. Smith struck out three and walked one.
Smith's successor was reliever David Slovack who pitched two innings of one-hit, one-run baseball and struck out one. Todd Weldon closed it out in the ninth after allowing a hit and striking out one and walking one.
As usual, the Cats' hurlers had problems settling in early. Starter Tim Haines (2-1) was drained for 96 pitches in only five innings of work. Haines allowed four runs on five hits and struck out five.
Abilene would not allow reliever Blake Parry to pitch even a full inning of relief, putting up three runs on five more hits in only 2/3 of an inning. Mace Thurman and Brandon Wilkerson would pitch the last 3 1/3 and only allow one hit and strike out four batters.
The headline hitter for the Prairie Dogs was third baseman Wilson Batista, who had been a problem for Fort Worth pitchers all series. Batista was 3-for-5 in the game with one run scored and four runs batted in. Three of those RBIs came on a monster of a homerun to right field in the fifth inning. Batista followed up in the sixth with a RBI single.
Fort Worth's record falls to 15-8 and their lead over the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings shrinks to one game. Abilene improves their record to 10-13 and remains in fifth place in the South Divison of the North American League.
Abilene will return home for the first game of a eight game home-and-home series with the San Angelo Colts Monday night at 7:05 p.m.
The Cats will travel to Harlingen for a crucial four game series with the second-place WhiteWings that starts Monday at 7:05 p.m.
North American League Stories from June 17, 2012
- Colts Held to Two Runs in Loss - San Angelo Colts
- Prairie Dogs take 3 out of 4 from Ft Worth - Abilene Prairie Dogs
- Roadrunners Split Series in San Angelo - Edinburg Roadrunners
- Cats Held to One RBI, Fall to Prairie Dogs 7-3 - Fort Worth Cats
- Noel, WhiteWings Shutout Thunder 11-0 - Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings
- WhiteWings Take Series from Thunder - McAllen Thunder
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