Cubs' Big Eight Leads to Win Over New Orleans
Published on July 2, 2011 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Iowa Cubs News Release
Iowa and New Orleans entered the bottom of eighth in a 3-3 tie, but the I-Cubs beat up on the Zephyrs' relief pitchers and put up six runs in the bottom of the inning to lift the team to a 9-4 win Saturday night at Principal Park in front of 10,440 fans.
The game entered the eighth inning with Iowa up 3-0 on the Zephyrs. Blake Parker, pitching in relief, allowed a two-out RBI-double by Josh Kroeger and Mike Cervenak followed with a two-run home run to knot the game at 3-3.
The tie was short lived as Iowa came back with six runs in the bottom of the frame. Bryan LaHair led off the inning with a walk. Welington Castillo came up with a single and Brad Snyder laid down a sacrifice bunt to move LaHair to third and Castillo to second. Zephyr pitcher Dan Jennings then elected to intentionally walk pinch-hitter Fernando Perez to load the bases and set up the force out at any base.
Ty Wright came to the plate and jumped on the first pitch from Jennings and singled to left field to let Iowa reclaim the lead at 4-3. Iowa was hardly finished as Jonathan Mota scored a runner on a sacrifice fly and Tyler Colvin, Marwin Gonzalez and D.J. LeMahieu each hit run-scoring singles. Iowa sent 11 men to the plate in the inning and scored those six runs on five hits and two walks.
Iowa's big eighth was a stark contrast to the rest of the game as both offenses were hitless through three innings as starting pitchers Robert Coello and Tom Koehler pitched effectively. Koehler faced the minimum over the first three but ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth.
Gonzalez started the scoring for Iowa, hitting a one-out single and moving to second base on a wild pitch from Koehler. LeMahieu followed with a single of his own to move Gonzalez to third. LaHair then hit into a fielder's choice that scored Gonzalez to move Iowa up at 1-0.
The I-Cubs tacked two more runs in the bottom of the fifth as Wright doubled home Scott More and Gonzalez hit a sacrifice fly to score Wright from third.
Coello pitched a gem for Iowa, hurling six shutout innings against New Orleans. He allowed just two hits, walked two and struck out four.
Parker (2-1, 4.30) got the win in relief after the offense picked him up. He pitched two innings and allowed three runs on three hits and one walk. Parker struck out two.
Jennings (0-1, 20.25) received the loss after being charged with all six runs in the eighth. His final line was six runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out one.
Iowa and New Orleans will play the final game of this series Sunday night at Principal Park. The 7:05 p.m. game will see Zephyr LH Sean West (2-4, 7.46) match up against I-Cub RH Jay Jackson (3-7, 7.22).
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