SAL1 Lexington Legends

Legends Win Season Finale Over Rome, 6-5

Published on September 6, 2010 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Lexington Legends News Release


Luis Cruz pitched five perfect innings to start the game, and Kirk Clark ended it with his league-leading 29th save as the Lexington Legends won their final game of the 2010 season 6-5 over the Rome Braves Monday night at Applebee's Park.

The Legends scored first in the bottom of the third inning. Renzo Tello, who was 3-for-3 in the game, led off the inning with a double. He was sacrificed to third by Grant Hogue. Tello held at third as Jimmy Paredes grounded out and Jiovanni Mier walked, but Jake Goebbert singled to give the Legends the lead. It was Goebbert's 98th RBI of the season, extending his own Legends' single-season RBI record. He finished second in the South Atlantic League to Chris Dominguez of Augusta, who drove in 101.

In the bottom of the fourth, Tello started a two-out rally with a single. Hogue beat out a bunt for a hit, moving Tello to second. Jimmy Paredes reached on an infield single, and when third baseman Joe Terdoslavich threw past first for an error, Hogue also scored to make it 3-0.

Kody Hinze led off the bottom of the fifth with his 19th home run of the year to give the Legends a 4-0 lead. The RBI was Hinze's 97th of the season.

Rome got its first hit and first baserunner when Edward Salcedo singled up the middle leading off the top of the sixth inning. Cruz retired the next two hitters and then picked Salcedo off first base, but the Braves broke through in the seventh.

Cruz walked Kyle Rose and Barrett Kleinknecht, the first two batters in the inning, and then hit Terdoslavich with a pitch to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed Rose to score, and Kleinknecht came home on a single by Robert Hefflinger. After Wander Alvino relieved Cruz, Christian Bethancourt grounded out to Paredes at second as Terdoslavich scored to cut the Lexington lead to one at 4-3.

The Legends padded the lead with two runs in the eighth inning. Aaron Bray led off with a bunt single, and Tello was hit by a pitch. Rome pitcher David Francis threw the ball into center field in a pickoff attempt at second base, and both runners moved up. They held at second and third as Hogue grounded out to shortstop, but Paredes lined a single to right to score both runners, giving the Legends a 6-3 advantage.

The Legends needed those extra runs to hold off Rome in the ninth. With one out, Terdoslavich walked. Hefflinger popped out to Mier at shortstop for the second out, but Bethancourt tripled to right center, and when Paredes' high relay throw went into the stands, Bethancourt scored to close the gap to one at 6-5. Todd Cunningham singled to left, but Clark struck out Salcedo to end the game. Clark's 29th save broke a 28-28 tie with Alejandro Ramos of Greensboro for the league lead.

Goebbert led the league in doubles with 48, extra base hits with 59, and runs scored with 91. Former Legend J.D. Martinez, who was promoted to double-A Corpus Christi July 15, was the league MVP and batting champion. He also led the league in on-base percentage (.433) and slugging percentage (.598).

Attendance at Applebee's Park: 4,066

Check out the Lexington Legends Statistics

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



South Atlantic League Stories from September 6, 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