Petit Near Perfect In His Triple-A Return
Published on June 23, 2006 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Albuquerque Isotopes News Release
In a cruel case of Déjà vu, for the second time in three nights the Albuquerque Isotopes (39-36) took a 2-1 lead into the ninth only to watch it disappear as the Memphis Redbirds (29-44) prevailed by the score of 3-2 in 10 innings Friday night at AutoZone Park. The loss spoiled a spectacular start by Yusmeiro Petit, who dazzled in his first Triple-A start since returning from a stint with the Marlins, allowing just one walk in five fantastic frames of work.
Just like two nights ago when the âTopes fell in extra-innings to the âBirds, Albuquerque entered the ninth inning holding a slim 2-1 lead. Brian Daubach led off the frame by drawing a walk from Isotopes reliever J.B. Miadich and was promptly removed for pinch-runner Travis Smith, who advanced to second on a sacrifice by Mike Rose. With John Nelson batting, catcher Paul Hoover couldn't handle a Miadich pitch, allowing Smith to go to third on a costly passed ball. Nelson then immediately seized the opportunity, lifting a sacrifice fly to center that tied the game at 2-2.
In the tenth, Albuquerque mounted a threat against Redbirds reliever Rich Scalamandre when Mike Colangelo roped a one out single to center and Hoover followed with a two-out single to center to move the winning run to second base, but Scalamandre was able to get Chris Ashby to pop out to second to end the frame.
That set up the Memphis tenth, when Albuquerque closer Brad Clontz allowed a lead-off single by Skip Schumaker before hitting the next batter Brian Esposito. Clontz recovered to strike out Derek Wathan as well as coax Rico Washington into a runner-advancing groundout to second to get two quick outs and was seemingly about to escape the threat until John Gall poked a soft liner that fell in front of center fielder Eric Reed to plate Schumaker from third with the winning run. Clontz (4-3) suffered the defeat, his second in three days, while Scalamandre (1-0) earned his first Triple-A victory.
Meanwhile, Petit, who was making his first start with the Isotopes since getting called up to Florida on May 8, was stellar, retiring the first 14 batters he faced until walking Nelson in the fifth inning, the only blemish on a near-perfect line in which the right-hander threw five no-hit, scoreless innings in which he struck out five. Petit left the game with a 2-0 lead after throwing 62 pitches, two more than his pitch-count limit for the night.
The âTopes jumped out first on the Redbirds, scoring a run on an RBI single by Matt Cepicky in the fourth and adding another in the fifth when a Jason Wood fly ball was dropped by centerfielder Schumaker for a three-base error that allowed Robert Andino to score from first to give Albuquerque a 2-0 lead. The Redbirds would get one back in the seventh when Schumaker was hit by a pitch by Joe Horgan with the bases loaded to plate Daubach and cut the advantage to 2-1 Isotopes.
The Isotopes, losers of nine of their last ten, will continue their five-game series with the âBirds tomorrow when left-hander Renyel Pinto (5-2, 2.64) takes on Memphis lefty Chris Narveson (2-0, 1.54) at AutoZone Park in a 5:10 P.M. start.
Albuquerque returns home on Monday, June 26 for the beginning of an eight game homestand against Omaha and Memphis. The great promotions kick off with Dukes Retro Night on Tuesday, June 27, when the team will don Dukes uniforms in tribute to Albuquerque's great baseball heritage. Tickets can be purchased at the Isotopes Park Box Office, www.albuquerquebaseball.com, Ticketmaster outlets, or at www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, please call (505) 924-2255.
Pacific Coast League Stories from June 23, 2006
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