Lynx devour SkyChiefs

by Ed Gonser
August 13, 2003 - International League (IL1)

Syracuse -- When life gives you lemons make like Ottawa Lynx first baseman Chris Lemonis and hit a three-run homer, knock in five runs and help beat your opponent senseless in a 14-5 drubbing.

Tim Raines, Jr. tied a franchise record, scoring five times in the lopsided win over the Syracuse SkyChiefs at P&C Stadium Wednesday.

Lemonis replaced an injured Napoleon Calzado in the third and hit his first home run of the year. The three-run shot came off of Syracuse reliever Scott Cassidy. He wasn't done and singled home Raines in the three-run fifth and two-run sixth inning.

Raines scored in the first on a single by Raul Casanova and followed that up by hitting a two-run single and scoring on Calzado's triple in the four-run second inning.

Casanova and Lemonis almost started bench clearing brawls when hit by pitches, Casanova in the second and Lemonis in the eighth, but cooler heads prevailed.

Raines walked and scored on Lemonis' homer in the third, while Eddy Garabito knocked in a pair of runs with a double in the second and again in the sixth.

Geronimo Gil had four hits in Ottawa's 19-hit attack, one of those a RBI single in the fifth. Joey Hammond chipped in with two singles, a triple and scored three times for Ottawa (64-60).

Former SkyChief Pedro Swann was the only Lynx player not to get a hit in the game.

Mike Colangelo hit a two-run homer in a four-run eighth inning for Syracuse (58-65) off of Ottawa reliever Todd Rizzo.

Sean Douglass (9-8) earned the win. Douglass allowed one unearned run on two hits, walked two and struck out five in six innings. Mike Smith (7-8) lasted only 1 1/3 innings in the loss. He allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits.

The win keeps Ottawa three games in back of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons for the league's wild card playoff spot.

The Red Barons shutout the Buffalo Bisons for the second time in three games 9-0 at Lackawanna County Stadium Wednesday.

Buffalo has hit the skids in the last two weeks losing 11 of 13 and has scored only one run in its last 42 innings.

The loss cost Syracuse the chance to climb out of the Northern Division basement after the Rochester Red Wings lost to the Pawtucket Red Sox. Rochester remains a half-game ahead of the SkyChiefs for the league's ineptness award (if there was one).

International League Stories from August 13, 2003

• Lynx devour SkyChiefs - OSC Original by Ed Gonser
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