Prairie Dogs Hold off Cats Behind Caves' 6 RBI
July 4, 2012 - North American League (NAmL)
Fort Worth Cats News Release
Abilene right fielder Chris Caves battered the Fort Worth pitching staff hitting 3-for-4 with two homeruns in the Prairie Dogs' 9-7 win over the Cats on Wednesday at LaGrave Field in Fort Worth, TX. Caves was responsible for eight Abilene runs, knocking in six and scoring two. The 4-5-6 hitters for Abilene batted 7-for-12 with eight runs batted in and six scored.
Fort Worth starter James Giulietti (2-4) suffered the loss and most of the damage in Wednesday's game after giving up six runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings of work. Giulietti walked three batters and struck out five.
Abilene starter Billy Petrick (4-0) was able to allow only five runs despite giving up 10 hits. In 5 2/3 innings, Petrick walked only one batter and struck out six.
The Prairie Dogs' bullpen was able to hold off rallies in the 7th and 8th innings and only allowed two runs on six hits. Closer Ray Silva earned his fourth save of the season.
Eight of the nine Cats' batters reached base, but that was not enough to match Abilene's explosive offense. Left fielder Chad Gabriel hit four singles in the game but could not get any support from his teammates lower in the lineup. Gabriel was stranded on base three times and caught stealing after the fourth base hit.
Catcher Derek Marshall picked up two hits on five at-bats on Wednesday and in the last six games has a batting average of .565 (13-for-23). Marshall has crossed the plate seven times and put runners across the plate on three occasions.
With the win, Abilene's record improves to 16-23 and they remain in fifth place in the United League standings. Fort Worth's record falls to 22-17 and the Cats gap between first place Edinburg increases to three games.
The Prairie Dogs and Cats will travel to Abilene to play the second and third games of a five game home-and-home series. The next game is Thursday night at 7:05 p.m.
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