Osvaldo Rodriguez's near no-no gets Captains first win

Published on May 14, 2010 under American Association (AA)
Shreveport-Bossier Captains News Release


FORT WORTH, Texas - Osvaldo Rodriguez got 26 outs Friday night without allowing a single Fort Worth Cat hit. He had a 3-0 lead, but two runners were on with two outs and a full count on Jeremy Sauceda. Rodriguez uncorked one last fastball, but Sauceda ripped it into the right-centerfield gap, getting between rightfielder Bryan Sabatella and centerfielder Jovanny Rosario to break up the no-hitter, but also threatening the Shreveport-Bossier Captains' first victory of the season.

After 128 pitches, Rodriguez was done, and closer Thad Markray came in to try to lock down the win. But the veteran hit Seth Fortenberry to put the potential winning run aboard. Catcher Kelley Gulledge ripped one pitch foul down the leftfield line, but then struck out on a pitch in the dirt to give Markray the save in the Captains' 3-2 win.

Both Rodriguez (1-0) and Fort Worth starter Dwayne Pollok (0-1) matched zeroes through the first five innings, with the Cats getting just two walks off Rodriguez and the Captains managing a hit, a walk and a hit batter in their first five at-bats. However, leftfielder Palmer Karr preserved the no-hit bid with two great catches in left-center- off Rob Recuenco leading off the second, and off Gulledge at the wall with one out in the fifth.

Shreveport-Bossier (1-1) used a little luck and a little power to finally break the scoreless draw in the sixth. With two outs, Bryan Sabatella hit a slow grounder to second, that took a bad hop at the last moment on Brenan Herrera. The Cats second baseman backed up to field the ball cleanly, but his throw was too late to get the hustling Sabatella at first. Christopher Garcia then ripped a 3-2 fastball to the opposite field for a two-run homer, giving the Captains 2-0 advantage.

Rodriguez walked Recuenco to lead off the sixth, but then set down nine in a row through the eighth inning. The Captains got another two out run in the eighth against reliever Gary Lee, on a two-out infield hit by Rosario, an error by Lee, and an RBI single by Sabatella.

The Captains starter hit Spenser Dennis with his first pitch of the bottom of the ninth, but then got Brian Fryer for his ninth strikeout of the game. He then walked Nick McCoola and induced a foulout to rightfield from John Allen to set up the confrontation with Sauceda.

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American Association Stories from May 14, 2010


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