Nathanson, Balanced Offense Deal Captains First Sweep

Published on July 8, 2010 under American Association (AA)
Shreveport-Bossier Captains News Release


PENSACOLA, Fla. - David Nathanson wriggled out of an early jam and then dominated the rest of the way, pitching a complete-game eight-hit shutout, leading the Pensacola Pelicans to a 6-0 win and a sweep over the Shreveport-Bossier Captains on Thursday night at Pelican Park.

All nine Pelicans hitters had at least one hit but no one had more than two, as Pensacola (23-28, 3-0 2nd half) won for the fifth straight time and gave the Captains (29-21, 0-3) a season-high four-game losing streak.

John Alonso hit a home run leading off the second inning against Ryan DiPietro (4-1) to give Pensacola the lead, and Dallas Christison and Chase Porch added two-out, two-run hits in the fourth and fifth to provide plenty of breathing room for Nathanson (3-4), who struck out eight and walked only one in his third complete game of the season.

The righty ran into trouble in the first, as Bryan Sabatella, Bryan Frichter and Christopher Garcia all singled to start the game. But Nathanson struck out Jorge Alvarez and induced a 6-4-3 double play from Andres Rodriguez to end the inning. The Captains did not threaten again, getting a one-out double in the second, a one-out single and walk in the second, and a leadoff single in the sixth. Nathanson induced two more double plays and retired 11 of the last 13 men he faced though, getting his third complete game of the year, and his second win against Shreveport-Bossier.

For his part, DiPietro also pitched very well, but would have liked three pitches back. The first was a full-count fastball that Alonso turned on and hit high and far to leftfield for his fifth homer of the season. In the fourth, he had the bases loaded with one out before striking out Adolfo Gonzalez, but Christison blooped the first pitch he saw over second for a two-run single. An inning later, with a base open and lefty-hitting Marcos Rodriguez on deck, DiPietro left the first pitch up to Porch, and he hammered it down the leftfield line for a two-run double.

The Captains lefty left after allowing an unearned run in the eighth, striking out five and walking one, but lost his first game of the season.

Notes: The Captains hit into eight double plays in the series...Frichter and Garcia, two of the seven Captains' All Stars, had four of their eight hits in the game. Andres Rodriguez also had two knocks...Palmer Karr, another Shreveport-Bossier representative in Wichita on July 27, was the designated hitter for the first time this season. He is dealing with a strained oblique muscle and was pinch-hit for in the seventh inning.

The Shreveport-Bossier Captains return home on Friday, July 9, at 7:05 p.m. to start a four-game series and a seven game homestand against the Fort Worth Cats, for KSLA-12 Faith and Family Night, featuring a postgame Christian concert by In Plain Sight. All games are broadcast on ESPN Radio, KRMD-1340 AM as well as streaming live on supertalk1340.com.

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American Association Stories from July 8, 2010


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