Markray dominates Cats in shutout win

Published on August 21, 2009 under American Association (AA)
Shreveport-Bossier Captains News Release


FORT WORTH, Texas - In his first game back after a month-long injury hiatus, Shreveport-Bossier Captains righty Thad Markray pitched well through the first three innings at LaGrave Field in Fort Worth before tiring in the fourth and fifth. But in his next start, he shut out those same Cats through six innings at Fair Grounds Field to pick up a win on August 11. Back in Texas on Friday night, Markray was even better, with eight scoreless frames to beat the Cats 4-0 at LaGrave Field in the series opener.

Fellow veteran Jorge Alvarez gave the Captains (43-44, 21-18 2nd half) their final margin of victory with a two-run shot off lefty Joel Kirsten (9-5) on a 3-2 count with no outs in the sixth, his ninth of the season and his first with Shreveport-Bossier.

The Captains were the only team in the first three innings to have so much as a runner at second base, but could not get him home in the third inning. Fort Worth's only baserunner through the first third of the game was a two-out single by Patrick O'Sullivan in the first, but he was quickly forced out on the next pitch on a grounder by John Allen to end the inning.

A one-out error by third-baseman Michael Bell opened the door for Shreveport-Bossier in the fourth, as Jose Torres hit a 3-2, two-out pitch into the right-center field gap to score Jorge Alvarez and give the Captains a 1-0 lead. Luis Guance followed with a single to right-center that scored Torres and made it 2-0.

Markray (5-9) ran into three jams in the game, and they were all identical - on leadoff doubles - but the righty got out of trouble all three times. In the fifth, Ryan Patterson doubled to left-center to start the frame. But the veteran got Kelley Gulledge to pop out, Isa Garcia to fly out to shallow center and Kevin Thompson to pop out as well to keep Patterson at second. The next inning was almost identical, with a leadoff double by Brian Fryer before a popout, flyout and another popout ended the frame.

After a 1-2-3 seventh, Markay gave up a leadoff double to Garcia in the eighth, but Thompson popped out to shallow right, Fryer flied to center, and Cameron Blair struck out on a high fastball - Markray's final pitch of the night.

The righty struck out four in his eight innings, allowing just the three doubles and O'Sullivan's first-inning single, only allowing one runner to third base. The only other baserunner the Cats (50-37, 20-19) got was when Markray hit O'Sullivan with one out in the fifth. Kirsten did not pitch poorly, allowing five hits and just one unearned runs out of the four total in his six innings, with two walks and one strikeout.

Jakob Cunningham got two flyouts and a lineout in a quick 1-2-3 ninth to finish the Captains' third shutout of the year, their first on the road but their second in the last four games.

Notes: The Captains moved to within three games of first-place Pensacola, who lost 4-3 to El Paso...The Captains also jumped over Grand Prairie by a half a game into second place after the AirHogs lost at Sioux City...Bryan Sabatella was the only player in the game to have two hits...this was the Captains' second four-hitter of the year, with the first coming on July 11 in a 4-0 win against Wichita, Shreveport-Bossier's first shutout of 2009...The one strikeout by Luis Guance marked the first time this season the Captains have struck out fewer than twice in a game.

The Shreveport-Bossier Captains continue their three-game series with the Fort Worth Cats on Saturday, August 22 at 7:05 p.m. The Captains are back home for their final regular-season series on Monday, August 24, with three games against the El Paso Diablos. Monday is Jose Cuervo Presents Margarita Monday, with half-priced margaritas throughout the game. It is also Ladies' night, with free admission to the park for women over 21. Game time is 7:05 p.m. All games are broadcast on ESPN Radio, KRMD-1340 AM and streamed live on supertalk1340.com, with streaming video provided by NiftyTV on www.sbcaptains.com for all home games and select road games. For information on tickets, promotions, advertising, and other opportunities with the Captains, check out the team's Web site at www.sbcaptains.com, or call the Fair Grounds Field office at (318) 636-5555.

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



American Association Stories from August 21, 2009


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