Pelicans Stop Captains Again to Stay Alive

Published on September 4, 2010 under American Association (AA)
Shreveport-Bossier Captains News Release


SHREVEPORT, La. - The Pensacola Pelicans again held off a late Shreveport-Bossier Captains rally to stay alive for another day, this time beating the Captains 9-7 in front of 540 fans at Fair Grounds Field in Game 4 of the South Division Championship series on Saturday afternoon, forcing a winner-take-all Game 5 on Sunday.

The Captains had a great chance in the bottom of the ninth inning, but it quickly evaporated against Pelicans closer Seth Overbey. The sidearming righty had walked Robert Perry to start the inning, and then allowed an RBI double to Christopher Garcia. After Garcia was pinch-run for by Mike Provencher, Palmer Karr walked to bring up Andres Rodriguez. After fouling a bunt off, Rodriguez then tried again to sacrifice but hit the ball right at first baseman Javier Brito, who fired to third for one out and Adolfo Gonzalez quickly relayed the ball to first for a stunning double play. Jorge Alvarez then came up, still representing the tying run, but grounded out to short on a nice play by Carlos Leon and a fine pick by Brito at the other end.

Shreveport-Bossier starter Luke Prihoda (0-1) shook off a first-inning, two-out run with three scoreless innings afterwards, as the Captains got two in the first off David Nathanson (1-1), who was working on three days' rest to take the lead 2-1, which they held into the fifth.

But the Captains' defense let them down in that frame, after a leadoff single by Leon. Kyle Brown then bunted to the right side, and Garcia and Prihoda nearly collided trying to field it, resulting in a hit. Gonzalez then laid down another bunt, and Prihoda threw wildly to third to load the bases. Francisco Leandro then ripped a two-run single to center on a 3-1 pitch to give Pensacola the lead for good, and Brito had yet another big hit with a towering three-run homer to left to make it 6-2.

The Pelicans tacked on another run in the sixth to chase Prihoda, but the Captains did not go away easily. They chased Nathanson with a run in and two on in the sixth, and Ron Hill served up two more hits to make it 7-5. A sacrifice fly by Alvarez in the seventh made it 7-6, but Pensacola got two huge two-out hits off Jameson Maj in the eighth to re-increase the lead to three, which again proved crucial for Overbey.

Now one team's season will end on Sunday, while the other will advance to play Sioux Falls in the American Association Championship Series, starting on Tuesday. Veteran lefty Richard Salazar will start for the Captains after winning Game 1 of this series, while veteran righty Jared Gothreaux will go for the Pelicans on three days' rest after losing Game 2.

Notes: Nathanson is now 3-0 this year on three days' rest, including beating the Captains twice.15 of the 18 hitters had at least one hit in the game and all 18 reached base safely at least once.Pensacola was 7-for-16 with four RBIs with two outs.Brian Peterson was caught stealing on the back end of a strike-him-out-throw-him-out double play to end the eighth, the first time in 10 chances that the Captains were caught stealing in the series.

The Shreveport-Bossier Captains will try to once again clinch the South Division Championship Series with the winner-take-all Game 5 on Sunday, September 5, at 6:05 p.m. Postseason tickets are on sale now at Fair Grounds Field for all possible home playoff games. All games are broadcast streaming live on ustream.tv. 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.

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American Association Stories from September 4, 2010


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