Defenders fall 1-0
Published on April 17, 2008 under Eastern League (EL1)
Connecticut Defenders News Release
NORWICH, CT- A lethargic Defenders squad took the diamond on Thursday night after enduring a marathon the night prior. Connecticut, noticeably fatigued, could not regain their energy as the dropped the first game of the home stand, 1-0 to the Reading Phillies.
The Defenders needed a strong, lengthy performance out of their starting pitcher in Joey Martinez and he delivered just that. After throwing five scoreless innings, Martinez slipped up in the sixth.
In the top half of the sixth, Martinez gave up a leadoff double to Phillies' slugger Greg Golson. Golson moved to third on a ground out to short and stood on third base with only one out. But, a bullet to a drawn-in infield and a great stop by Olmo Rosario froze Golson on third and help record the second out of the inning. Unfortunately, Connecticut's sigh of relief was brief, to say the least. Jeremy Slayden stood in next and worked himself into an even 2-2 count. Martinez heaved a slider on the outside portion of home and Slayden tapped a slow roller down the first base line. Martinez fielded it cleanly, but his under-hand flip to first baseman Travis Ishikawa was errant as Ishikawa's foot pulled off of first as Golson scored the go-ahead run.
Fabio Castro matched Martinez inning for inning, as the Defenders struggled to produce offensively. Their best scoring opportunity came in the eighth inning as Antoan Richardson led off the inning by getting aboard by way of a hit-by-pitch. He stole second and a bad throw skipped past a covering Gookie Dawkins to put Richardson on third with just one out. The veteran Ishikawa would need only a deep fly ball to equalize the game, but instead he popped the ball up to shallow center. With Richardson's speed to consider, manager Bien Figueroa sent his flighty base runner hurdling towards the plate but Golson's arm was not to be tampered with as he threw a laser beam to the covering catcher John Suomi to double off Richardson and end the threat.
Joey Martinez would lose his second game in three starts despite never giving up an earned run. New reliever Daryl Mayday tossed three scoreless innings in the defeat. Also, there was a 43-minute delay as the lights in the outfield malfunctioned.
The Defenders will face off against these same Reading Phillies Friday night. The game will begin at 6:35pm and anyone who had tickets to Thursday night's contest can use their tickets for Friday night's game as part of "Guaranteed the Lights Will Work Tonight Night." For ticket information visit ctdefenders.com or call the box office at (860) 887-7962.
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