Pels Provide Fireworks in 11-7 Win

Published on July 5, 2009 under American Association (AA)
Pensacola Pelicans News Release


The Pensacola Pelicans provided their own fireworks on the Fourth of July, as both Chase Burch and Lester Contreras hit bombs en route to an 11-7 victory over the Fort Worth Cats. The Pelicans would need 13 innings to claim the win, as Ulysses Roque pitched the final three innings without allowing a run to earn his fourth win of the year.

The Pelicans took an early lead, posting five runs in the very first inning off Cat's starter Ryan Trytten. Antoin Gray walked with two out. Chase Burch walked, and both men scored when Marcos Rodriguez extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a double. Dallas Christison walked before Lou Palmisano hit a fly ball deep to right field. Patterson couldn't make the play, and both Rodriguez and Christison scored on what was deemed an error. Lester Contreras hit an RBI single that scored Palmisano from second base and the Pelicans led 5-0 before the Cats even sent a batter to the plate.

When the Cats did hit in the bottom of the first, they cut the lead to three by scoring two runs. Brian Fryer walked, then moved to second when Pelicans' starter Adam Brandenburg issued Cameron Blair a free pass. John Allen hit a single, and both Fryer and Blair scored. The Cats picked up two more runs in the bottom of the second when Isa Garcia led off with a single. Chuck Carter walked before Cameron Blair hit a single that scored Garcia and moved Carter to third. Ryan Patterson hit a groundball that the Pelicans played to second. Patterson reached and Carter scored to make the tally 5-4 Pensacola.

The score stayed tight until the top of the fifth. With one out, Chase Burch walked, then moved to second when Rodriguez picked up his third hit of the night. When Dallas Christison flied out to center, Burch tagged and advanced to third. A wild pitch by Trytten scored Burch and gave the Pelicans a cushion.

The Cats got the run back in the bottom of the fifth when Patrick O'Sullivan hit his league-leading 12th homer of the season. The deep shot to left brought the score to 6-5 Pensacola.

The contest remained a one-run ballgame until the bottom of the ninth. After Brandenburg pitched five innings (allowing five earned runs on five hits with six walks and four strikeouts), Aaron Jackson pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh. He conceded just three hits while striking out two. Ron hill pitched a blank eighth inning, paving the way for Hunter Davis to come on in the ninth.

After recording his tenth save a night earlier, Davis struck out Cameron Blair to start the bottom of the ninth. However, strike three was a wild pitch, and Blair reached first. A balk advanced him to second. Patterson grounded out to second base, but Blair moved to third on the play. John Allen lifted a ball to left, scoring Blair and sending the game to extras.

The Pelicans thought it would be over quickly when Chase Burch hit his team-best seventh homerun over the leftfield wall to put the Pelicans up 7-6. However, Kelley Gulledge reached on a fielder's choice with one out in the bottom of the tenth inning. Aljay Davis pinch ran for Gulledge and advanced to second on a single by Isa Garcia. Chuck Carter flied out to center, and the Pelicans were one out away from winning. Brian Fryer had other plans and hit a single through the left side to score Davis and send the game into a second round of extras.

No one would score in the eleventh and twelfth innings as Ulysses Roque started pitching for the Pels after the tenthg. In the top of the thirteenth, Dallas Christison was hit in the back by a pitch from Dustin Cameron. Christison moved from first to second on a wild pitch, and then on to third when the second consecutive pitch was wild as well. The Cats pulled Cameron for Alex Morales. With a two-ball count, Lou Palmisano went on to walk, putting runners at first and third for Lester Contreras. Contreras decided to celebrate Independence Day by launching his own projectile into the sky: a three run homer cleared the leftfield wall and put the Pelicans up 10-7. Contreras, who had only hit seven homeruns in his five professional seasons up to that point, watched as Morales walked the succeeding batter, Francisco Leandro. After a strikeout, the Cats brought in Taylor Parker. He gave up a double to Adam Darby that scored Leandro from first, and the Pelicans led 11-7.

Ulysses Roque pitched a one-two-three bottom of the thirteenth to clinch his fourth win, and the Pelicans' third straight. The Cats dropped their fourth in a row, as Dustin Cameron fell to 1-3. The Pelicans will throw LHP Randy Beam against LHP Joel Kirsten of Fort Worth tomorrow; first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. Central Time. Fans can follow the game live on NewsRadio1620 or online via SportsJuice.com. The Pelicans provide a link to the webcast on their website, www.pensacolapelicans.com.

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