AtL Sugar Land Space Cowboys

Comeback Complete

Published on June 23, 2012 under Atlantic League (AtL)
Sugar Land Space Cowboys News Release


SUGAR LAND, Texas - The Sugar Land Skeeters (24-31) completed a second comeback in as many days to take game two, 5-4, over the visiting Camden Riversharks (25-29) in front of 7557 fans on Saturday night at Constellation Field.

Heath Phillips started his seventh game of the season in his 13th appearance of 2012. Last time out against the Riversharks, Phillips fired seven scoreless innings allowing just three hits in getting his first win of the year. This time around, Phillips had command early and often striking out three while facing just 15 batters through the first four innings.

Riversharks starter Mike McGuire toed the rubber for the second time against the Skeeters faring better the second time around. Through the first four innings, McGuire retired the first 11 batters he faced using two inning-ending double plays in the first and second.

Scoring did not get underway until the top of the fifth inning when Camden came to bat. Left fielder Eduardo Perez started the inning off with a single up the middle and then advanced to second on a sacrifice-bunt from Steve Doetsch. With one out in the inning, shortstop Jake Eigste laced a fastball into right putting runners on the corners. Camden turned the lineup over for the third time in the game in the next at-bat and leadoff batter Chris Walker capitalized in his third trip to the plate. Ahead in the count, Walker lined an off-speed pitch down the left-field line into the corner. Perez scored easily from third and Eigsti hustled around from first to give the Riversharks a 2-0 lead. After a fly-out from Lloyd Turner, first baseman Brian Burgamy brought home the third run on a grounder to short. Iggy Suarez made a nice play to keep it from going to center, but he threw wild to first allowing Walker to score. No RBI was given to Burgamy, but the score increased to 3-0.

Sugar Land came back in the sixth, though. Again, former Astro Jason Lane was at the front of it. Suarez started the inning with a walk and Dominic Ramos doubled him to third, but the next at-bat caused confusion for the Riversharks and was the game-changing play of the game. Miguel Negron was batting with two on and none out, and off relief pitcher Josh Walter (0-1), Negron grounded a fastball to first. Burgamy picked up the ball expecting to tag the bag and throw home to complete the double play to keep Suarez from scoring, but he missed the bag. The out was still recorded at home to keep the Skeeters off the board, but it would prove a crucial missed play at first. In the next at-bat, Lane stepped up and hit a towering shot over the wall in left. The three-run home run (2) tied the game, 3-3, and pushed the momentum meter in favor of the home team.

It did not take long for the Skeeters to take the lead. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Steve Moss started with a walk before ending up on third after a double from Matt Hagen. Suarez struck out swining, but in a gutsy move to bring a pinch-hitter into the game, Manager Gary Gaetti replaced Ramos with Luis Figueroa at the top of the order. With two on and none out, Figueroa smacked a fastball up the middle off the pitchers glove into center bringing both runners around giving the Skeeters a 5-3 lead.

Pedro Liriano (2-2) fired two innings of shutout ball facing the minimum six batter before Ryan McKeller pitched the eighth and closer Gary Majewski the ninth.

McKeller gave up a long ball (8) to Burgamy that cut the lead to one, 5-4, in the top of the eighth, but when the ninth rolled around, Majewski was unstoppable. After picking up his seventh save in last night's 5-3 win, Majewski threw fourteen pitches (8 of them for strikes) facing just three batters in the top of the ninth to record his eighth save of the year.

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Atlantic League Stories from June 23, 2012


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