Defenders Fall 2-1/4th Straight
August 2, 2008 - Eastern League (EL1)
Connecticut Defenders News Release
MANCHESTER, NH- Joey Martinez toed the rubber for the first time in New Hampshire since mid-July when he was named the Most Outstanding Pitcher of the Eastern League All-Star Game. His performance on Saturday was inspired and well executed, but resulted in a 2-1 loss to the Fisher Cats as the Defenders faltered in ripe offensive opportunities.
Much like Friday's contest, the Defenders touched the run column first in Saturday's game. Ryan Rohlinger started off the third inning with a monster homer to left field to give Connecticut a 1-0 lead.
New Hampshire responded immediately. In the last of the third, Erik Kratz went to the opposite field, as he smacked his second homer in as many days. The solo shot barely cleared the short porch in right field, but nonetheless, tied the game at 1-1.
A silent fourth led to a home half of the fifth that featured another run for the Cats. Kyle Phillips got aboard on a single and came home two batters later on an RBI single off the bat of Ryan Klosterman to make it 2-1, New Hampshire.
From the sixth inning on, pitching took over. The Defs had their best chance to score an equalizing run in the seventh when the bases were loaded with just one out, but Rohlinger bounced into an inning-ending twin-killing. The squandered opportunity was one of many as Connecticut struggled in hitter-friendly Mercharntsauto.com Stadium.
Martinez suffered his ninth loss as he dropped to 7-9 on the season. In seven innings, Martinez allowed two earned runs on five hits, walked one and fanned eight. On the other side of the ball, Brad Mills shined. Mills lasted six innings, allowed one earned run on three hits, walked none and struck out five en route to his first Eastern League win. Daryl Harang tossed an inning and two-thirds of scoreless baseball to lock down his first save of the year.
The Defenders and Fisher Cats will battle for the final time of the 2008 season on Sunday at 1:05pm. The AT&T Real Yellow Pages Pre-Game Show will start at 12:50pm on ctdefenders.com or locally on the Defender's Radio Network.
Eastern League Stories from August 2, 2008
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- B-Mets' Ninth-Inning Rally Falls Short - Binghamton Rumble Ponies
- Senators Sputter To 4-1 Loss To Akron - Harrisburg Senators
- Mills earns first EL win & Harang records first EL save in 2-1 win over Connecticut - New Hampshire Fisher Cats
- Rain and Thunder get best of Dogs - Portland Sea Dogs
- Rock Cats win over Binghamton - New Britain Rock Cats
- Edell Impressive Again in Akron's 4-1 Win - Akron RubberDucks
- Defenders Fall 2-1/4th Straight - Connecticut Defenders
- Trenton takes first game of DH over Portland 7-3 - Trenton Thunder
- Game Two of Saturday's Doubleheader Postponed - Portland Sea Dogs
- Aeros Notes - Akron RubberDucks
- Daniel Murphy Joins NY Mets - Binghamton Rumble Ponies
- Curve Canine to Retrieve Bats, Perform On-Field Skit During 7:05 PM Game vs. Bowie - Altoona Curve
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