Jones Powers Cats Past WhiteWings
July 3, 2012 - North American League (NAmL)
Fort Worth Cats News Release
Third baseman Brandon Jones hit his team leading seventh homerun to put the Fort Worth Cats on top for good in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings in front of a season high crowd of 3,019 at LaGrave Field in Fort Worth, TX.
Jones' fourth inning bomb was his only hit of the game but proved to be an important one. Jones also had a sacrifice bunt in the second inning to set up catcher Derek Marshall for a single to score second baseman CJ Beatty.
"Everyday you want to bring the best you can to the table. I don't care if that's bunting a guy over or getting a big hit," Jones said.
Marshall and shortstop Shelby Ford have been unstoppable in the Cats' five-game winning streak combining for a .568 batting average (21-37). Marshall was 2-for-3 on Tuesday with a run batted in and Ford was 2-for-4.
Fort Worth's pitching was once again lights out thanks to Kane Holbrooks (1-2), who despite pitching 6 1/3 innings, was not the starter. Tim Haines (2-3) started the game but left the game after giving up a sacrifice fly in the second inning. Haines was removed due to a forearm injury. Haines shutout the WhiteWings in his outing, gave up four hits, and struck out three.
"It caught me off guard...I was just coming out of the locker room and I had to run straight onto the field," Holbrooks said.
His Rio Grande Valley counterpart, Henry Garcia (1-1), pitched a complete game and despite his eleven hits allowed, had great numbers. Garcia struck out four Cats in eight innings and allowed two runs.
Left fielder Ruddy Yan seemed to be the only WhiteWing to have Fort Worth's hurler's numbers after going 3-for-4 with the sole run scored. Yan singled off all three Cats pitchers and was 90 feet away from the scoring the winning run in the ninth after Rio Grande loaded the bases off of Fort Worth closer Jeff Jamnik. Jamnik was able to escape the bases-loaded situation to earn his 10th save in as many opportunities this season.
The win was the first for the Cats when scoring three runs or less (1-13). Their record is now 22-16 and remain 2.5 games back of the first-place Edinburg RoadRunners. The WhiteWings record falls to 20-18 and they slip to fourth place in the United League, a half game back of the San Angelo Colts.
Rio Grande will return home to play the Colts for a crucial five game battle for third place.
Fort Worth will start a five game home-and-home series with the Abilene Prairie Dogs Wednesday night at 7:05 at LaGrave. There will be many activities to honor Independence Day, as a pregame flyover will take place from the local Fort Worth Base. The city of Fort Worth will be displaying fireworks, and fans can go on to the field to view them. Headlining the night will be a concert by country artist Steve Helms. Tickets can be purchased at FWCats.com or by phone at (817) 332-CATS.
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North American League Stories from July 3, 2012
- No Walk-off In Abilene - Abilene Prairie Dogs
- Colts Sweep Abilene in Extras - San Angelo Colts
- Roadrunners Win Fourth in a Row - Edinburg Roadrunners
- Jones Powers Cats Past WhiteWings - Fort Worth Cats
- Rio Grande Valley Loses Sixth Straight - Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings
- Technical Difficulties; Broadcast Delayed - San Angelo Colts
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