Iowa Comes up Empty in Hit Parade
Published on June 14, 2012 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Iowa Cubs News Release
DES MOINES, IA -The Cubs lost their fourth straight game falling to the Isotopes 10-8 in a slugfest at Principal Park Thursday night. Albuquerque (38-30) outhit Iowa (29-39) 13-12 in game one of the four-game set.
The Iowa offense jumped on starter Will Savage early, scoring two runs in the first. Brett Jackson ripped his ninth triple of the season in the first inning to give the Cubs an early lead. Alfredo Amezaga and Josh Vitters scored after getting aboard with a leadoff single and a walk, respectively.
The Isotopes wasted no time getting one back in the second inning. Luis Cruz and Jerry Sands took turns denting the wall in center and left. Sands' single scored Cruz who rocked a double off the wall in left-center in the previous at-bat. Alex Castellanos then knotted the score at two in the third with a solo home run knocking off the chocolate milk sign in right center.
Albuquerque tacked on three more runs in the fourth on a bases-clearing double by Tim Federowicz. Iowa stormed back in their half of the inning to cut the Isotopes' lead back down to one run on an RBI-ground out by Ty Wright, followed by a Blake Lalli double to center field to score Jackson.
The game see-sawed back in Albuquerque's direction in the sixth as they plated four runs to chase Raley out of the ball game. Will Savage helped his own cause, knocking a two-run double to pad the Isotopes lead. Esmailin Caridad then allowed an inherited Raley runner to score on an RBI-triple by Trent Oeltjen. Castellanos drove in his second run on a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to five runs. The rookie southpaw was roughed up for eight runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings after his seven-inning complete game shutout in his last outing.
Iowa's offense mirrored the Isotopes, using a combination of small ball and a blast to score four runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth inning. Brett Jackson (3-for-4) led off the inning with a single to center, and then worked his way to third on a stolen base and a throwing error by the catcher. Wright recorded his second RBI of the night with a single to score Jackson.
Continuing his recent offensive explosion, Blake Lalli blasted his second home run in as many games to bring Iowa within two. Tolbert singled to right and was moved over to second on a successful bunt by Caridad. Dave Sappelt then joined the hit parade, singling in Tolbert to cut the Isotopes lead back to one.
Wright drove a potential go-ahead home run to deep left center in the seventh after Geovany Soto (1-for-4) got aboard with a leadoff single, but instead the ball nestled into Oeltjen's glove on the warning track, just in front of the wall. Soto caught seven innings in the loss.
Caridad tossed 2.2 innings of relief, surrendering one run on three hits while striking out two. Josh Fields snapped Scott Maine's streak of nine scoreless innings with a lead off home run in the ninth to put Albuquerque up 10-8. It was the first home run Maine allowed this season.
Despite every member of the Iowa starting lineup knocking a hit, Iowa could not comeback. The Cubs are now 0-28 when trailing after the eighth inning. Will Savage is now tied for the league lead in wins with nine, while Josh Wall pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save on the season. Brooks Raley evened his record, falling to 2-2 on the year.
Iowa will look to right the ship tomorrow. The Cubs starter is to be announced, facing off against RHP Stephen Fife (5-4) for a 7:05 p.m. start at Principal Park with fireworks to follow. The game will be broadcast live on AM 940 with the On Deck Circle Pre-Game Show starting at 6:45 p.m.
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