GreenJackets Drop Second Straight in Extras
Published on August 23, 2011 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Augusta GreenJackets News Release
Augusta, GA - For the second straight night, the Kannapolis Intimidators picked up an extra-inning win against the Augusta GreenJackets. A sacrifice fly in the 11th inning provided the go-ahead run as the Intimidators slipped past the GreenJackets by a 5-4 score on Tuesday night.
A key wild pitch started the top of the 11th as Collin Kuhn reached on strike three to put the go-ahead run on base for the Intimidators. A sacrifice bunt moved Kuhn to second, while a single put him at third and Ross Wilson's sacrifice fly scored Kuhn to put Kannapolis ahead 5-4. Devin Harris reached on a two-out single in the bottom of the 11th to bring the winning run to the plate but Joel Weeks grounded out to end the game as the GreenJackets lost in extras for the second straight night.
Kannapolis jumped ahead early, scoring the game's first four runs before the GreenJackets answered with their four to send things to extras. Mario Rodriguez, making his first start since May 8th, was touched up to the tune of a run on three hits in the second inning. The last of those hits - an RBI single by Miguel Gonzales - gave Kannapolis an early 1-0 lead.
Rodriguez settled down and retired the next nine hitters he faced before running into trouble again in the fifth. With runners at the corners and one out in the inning, Adam Duvall's throwing error brought in Kannapolis's second run of the game to make it a 2-0 contest. Later in the inning, Dan Black's league-leading 37th double of the season pushed the advantage to 4-0 and sent Rodriguez to the showers. Rodriguez allowed four runs - two earned - in 4.2 innings on six hits while striking out two.
The GreenJackets fought their way back and eventually tied the game in the eighth. Bobby Haney's RBI single brought a run home in the fifth while an Eliezer Zambrano RBI double - one of his three hits in the contest - and Haney's run-scoring groundout brought the GreenJackets back to within one in the seventh. With two outs in the eighth, a fielding error by Kannapolis second baseman Carlos Sanchez allowed Chris Lofton to reach on a grounder to second and brought Zambrano home with the tying run.
The GreenJackets had plenty of chances to capitalize further on rallies and even in the ninth inning, but the GreenJackets left the bases loaded three times and stranded a total of 15 men on the bases. Augusta went just 2-12 at the plate with runners in scoring position and the GreenJackets have stranded a combined 27 men on base in the two games of the series.
Steven Upchurch (5-9) allowed only an unearned run over the game's final 4.1 innings to hang on and pick up the win for Kannapolis. Gaspar Santiago (3-7) allowed a run on just one hit in two innings, but took the loss for Augusta.
The GreenJackets will send Shawn Sanford (9-9, 2.73) to the mound on Wednesday on their way back toward a series split. Kannapolis counters with fellow righty Matt Heidenreich (10-8, 4.29). First pitch comes at 7:05 p.m. with radio pregame coverage beginning at 6:50, airing on WRDW-AM 1630 and online at www.greenjacketsbaseball.com .
Single-game tickets for any GreenJackets home game are currently available by calling the GreenJackets front office at 706-922-WINS while further information can be found online at www.greenjacketsbaseball.com .
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