NYPL Tri-City ValleyCats

Clutch Woes Lead to 7-3 Defeat

Published on July 12, 2010 under New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Tri-City ValleyCats News Release


The ValleyCats outhit Jamestown on Monday night, committed fewer errors, walked more often and struck out a season-high 17 batters. The only category in which the Jammers came out on top was the most important one, as the visitors downed Tri-City, 7-3.

"When's the last time you saw a team strike out that many times and win a game?" said manager Jim Pankovits. "That was a strange game tonight, in more ways than one."

Jamestown broke open a one-run contest in the fifth inning, scoring four times despite three strikeouts. Murillo Gouvea walked the first two batters of the frame before striking out a pair. With two on and two out, first baseman Ryan Fisher drove a single to left field, plating Brent Keys. Left fielder Sequoyah Stonecipher followed with a double off Joan Belliard, charging two more runs to Gouvea.

Stonecipher came around to score when umpire Chris Tipton called a pair of balks on Belliard. Pankovits was not pleased by the calls, and was ejected after confronting Tipton.

The ValleyCats fell into an early hole, continuing a disturbing trend from recent games. Reliever Chris Blazek was given the ball to start the game, expecting to throw only one inning. Blazek certainly got his money's worth, allowing two runs on 28 pitches, including a leadoff triple to Todd Muecklish. The southpaw escaped the inning only when Adam Bailey threw Stonecipher out at third base from deep right field.

"We've developed a strange pattern of falling behind in the first inning of every single game," Pankovits said. "If we can get out of those first couple innings with a lead, we can be more aggressive and have some more confidence."

Tri-City closed the gap to 2-1 in their half of the inning when a Dan Adamson grounder brought home leadoff hitter Wilton Infante. But they left a pair of runners on base, the first of many the hosts would strand.

"Our situational hitting was just abysmal," Pankovits said. "We need to find a way to have better at-bats with men on base. Our hitters need to be more aggressive and realize that the pitcher is in trouble [with runners on base], not the batter."

The ValleyCats batted just 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position. 16 runners reached safely via hit, walk or error, but just three would make it around safely. 12 were left on base, while Ben Orloff was picked off at second in the third inning. Tri-City left the bases loaded in the sixth and eighth innings.

Each of the three runs scored on a fielder's choice. Nick Stanley's bases-loaded grounder off the end of the bat in the eighth brought home Tyler Burnett, while Adamson received another RBI in the ninth with a grounder to score Orloff.

Catcher Ryan McCurdy had the biggest hit of the ninth inning, pulling a double down the left-field line. The undrafted free agent was activated by Tri-City on Sunday, and entered for the first time in the top of the ninth inning.

The biggest hit of the night unquestionably came off the bat of Marcell Ozuna. The right fielder took the first pitch he saw and drilled it over a building behind the scoreboard in left, a shot that would have seemed more appropriate in the concurrent MLB Home Run Derby. The blast - estimated at around 450 feet - was Ozuna's second homer in as many days. He is now tied for the league lead with six longballs.

Gouvea was bumped from the rotation after he failed to get out of the first inning against Batavia last week. But the Brazilian righty showed promise on Monday, fanning five batters in a row and eight in 3.2 innings. He threw three scoreless frames before running into trouble in the fifth inning.

The other Tri-City pitchers also had little trouble missing bats, fanning an incredible 17 Jammers. But the visitors benefited from timely hits, scoring seven runs while leaving only five men on base.

The ValleyCats (9-15) look to snap a three-game losing streak and avoid a sweep tomorrow night when they host Jamestown (15-9) for the final time.

Check out the Tri-City ValleyCats Statistics

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New York-Penn League Stories from July 12, 2010


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