PCL1 Albuquerque Isotopes

Cubs Survive For Second Straight Night, 10-8

Published on June 24, 2008 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Albuquerque Isotopes News Release


For the second straight night the Albuquerque Isotopes (36-40) rallied in the final inning only to come up short as the Iowa Cubs (45-33) survived for a 10-8 victory Monday night at Isotopes Park. After making his Major League debut last night, Jai Miller led the Isotopes offensive attack tonight, going two-for-five with a pair of RBI and a run scored.

Down 10-6 in the final frame, Lorenzo Scott scorched a one-out single up the middle to set up Jason Wood, his double to left field allowed Scott to show off his speed, sprinting around the bases to score, 10-7. Following a pitching change by Iowa that brought in reliever Carmen Pignatiello, Beattie responded with a two-out double to left field that drove in Wood and brought the ‘Topes within striking distance, 10-8. With a runner on second and the tying run up to bat, Pignatiello settled down to strike out Baker and seal the victory for the I-Cubs, 10-8.

Iowa jumped to an early lead in the second when Casey McGehee led the inning off with a single up to middle only to advance to third on a single slashed to right by Koyie Hill. With two men on, Andres Blanco added a third-straight single that would plate McGehee for the first run of the game, 1-0, while Hill scampered into second. Iowa starter J.R. Mathes laid down a sacrifice to advance the runners into scoring position for Andres Torres who right away cleared the bases with a double to center field to give the Cubs an early 3-0 lead. Bobby Scales added to the rally singling to right to drive in Torres for the fourth run of the inning. Daryle Ward continued the hit parade, singling to center as Scales advanced to second. Following a pickoff at second that eliminated Scales, Isotopes starter Gaby Hernandez uncorked a wild pitch to advance Ward into scoring position for Ben Broussard, who shot a single up to the middle to plating Ward as the I-Cubs extended their lead to five, 5-0. Josh Kroeger earned a walk to push Broussard to second for McGehee, who cracked a ground-rule double down the right field line that would drive in Broussard for the sixth and final run of the inning, 6-0 Cubs.

With Andrew Beattie on third, catcher John Baker doubled to left, moving the runner to third. Following a hit-by-pitch to Chase Lambin to load the bases, Hernandez slashed a single to right field that drove in Beattie for the first Isotopes' run of the game, 5-1. With the bases still loaded, Miller doubled to left field that would drive in Baker and Lambin to cut the lead in half, 6-3, while Hernandez raced to third. Chris Barnwell would ground out to allowing Hernandez to score and narrow the lead to two, 6-4. John Gall would cap off the five run inning by driving in Miller on a single to left field as the once mighty Cubs lead had been reduced to one, 6-5.

McPherson showed off his power in the fifth as he crushed his twenty-fifth homer of the year to the opposite field with a solo blast to left to tie up the game at six.

The tied contest wouldn't last long, as Iowa surged ahead with two runs in the seventh. Kroeger led the seventh off for the Cubs hitting an infield single past the pitcher to set up McGehee who followed with a single up the middle advancing Kroeger to second. Hill executed the sacrifice bunt to perfection advancing the runners into scoring position for Andres Blanco, his single to center cleared the bases for the Cubs as Iowa reclaimed the lead, 8-6.

The Cubs added an insurance run in the eighth and another in the ninth that proved to the difference, as the Cubs held on for a 10-8 win.

Albuquerque will look to even up the series on Tuesday as southpaw Chris Seddon (5-5, 4.01) will square off against former University of Notre Dame wide receiver and Iowa right-hander Jeff Samardzija (0-0, No ERA) who will be making his Triple-A debut, first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM at Isotopes Park.

The ‘Topes' four-game and final homestand in the month of June concludes tomorrow, with an Isotopes beads giveaway. Tickets can be purchased at Isotopes Park or any Ticketmaster outlet, www.ticketmaster.com, or Ticketmaster by phone 505-883-7800. For more information on individual game tickets, season tickets, or mini-plans, visit www.albuquerquebaseball.com or call 505-924-2255.

IOWA 0 6 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 - 10 20 1

ALB 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 0 2 - 8 13 0

WP- Mathes (5-3); LP- Tankersley (0-1); SV-Pignatiello (2)

Check out the Albuquerque Isotopes Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 24, 2008


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