Fife Outduels Gibson

Published on July 18, 2010 under Eastern League (EL1)
New Britain Rock Cats News Release


New Britain, CT - Kyle Gibson engaged in an old-fashioned pitcher's duel with Portland's Stephen Fife in the early parts of Sunday afternoon's game, but it was the Sea Dogs who came out on top, 4-2.

Fife retired 14 of the first 15 batters he faced as both pitchers kept the opponent off the board through the first three innings.

The Sea Dogs struck first when Anthony Rizzo slugged a two-out solo home run over the right field wall for a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, Jorge Padron led off with a double to right and moved to third on a Gibson wild pitch. Chih-Hsien then lined a base hit into left to knock in Padron for another run.

Nate Spears led off the sixth with a single to right for the Sea Dogs. With one out, Luis Exposito and Rizzo delivered consecutive RBI doubles to extend the lead, 4-0.

Fife (6-2) limited the Rock Cats to two hits in six shutout innings. Ryne Lawson took the ball to start the bottom of the seventh and struck out Steve Singleton. Alexander Soto singled before Brandon Roberts and Chris Cates both drew walks to load the bases. A throwing error by Rizzo at first allowed Ben Revere to reach base safely as Soto and Roberts both crossed the plate for the only Rock Cats' runs of the day.

Gibson (5-5) finished with four runs on eight hits through six innings. He struck out two and walked none.

The Rock Cats looked to make a late rally against Jason Rice in the ninth. Singleton opened the bottom of the inning with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Soto lined out to left and Roberts popped out to short for a quick two outs. The inning appeared to remain alive with a line drive single off the bat of Juan Portes, but Singleton was called out for the final out when the ball hit him while running to third. Rice notched his 10th save of the season for Portland.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Eastern League Stories from July 18, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central