RiverHawks lose sixth straight, 5-2
August 25, 2009 - Frontier League (FL)
Rockford RiverHawks News Release
LOVES PARK, Ill. - The Rockford RiverHawks edged a step closer to elimination from the Frontier League playoff picture on Tuesday. River City jumped out to an early four-run lead and beat the RiverHawks, 5-2, in front of 2,324 at Road Ranger Stadium.
The RiverHawks have lost six in a row and their "black magic" number for elimination from playoff contention dropped to five. Southern Illinois won, 12-6, at Evansville to leapfrog over Windy City into the West Division lead. The ThunderBolts lost, 9-8, to Gateway and fell to the last of two wild-card spots. The RiverHawks trail Windy City by 8½ games for that final spot with a dozen games left. River City is a half-game back.
River City took advantage of two early Rockford errors to score twice in the first inning and twice in the second off Rockford starter Kyle Wright. Wright walked back-to-back batters with two outs in the first inning. Ryan Wehrle singled in a run and another scored on an error by third baseman Caleb Fields. In the second inning, Jorge Gutierrez led off with a single and Wright mishandled a sacrifice attempt to set up a run-scoring groundout by JoJo Batten and a RBI single by Chad Maddox.
Rockford got on the board with two runs in the third inning, on RBI singles by Jono Brooks and Doug Sanders. The RiverHawks left five runners in scoring position, however, and were 2-for-12 when batting with runners at second and/or third.
Wright (10-4) gave up five runs, two earned, on six hits over eight innings and took the loss. Wright struck out eight and walked four. He is winless in his last four starts.
River City starter Stephen Flake (4-4) gave up four hits, struck out six and walked three over six innings for the win. Jason Lowey stranded a runner at third base in the ninth inning for his 20th save.
The series continues at 7:05 p.m. on Family Value Night. For $40, a family of four gets four outfield seats, four hot dogs and four soft drinks. It's also Kids Eat Free Night. Kids 12 and under get a hot dog and soft drink when both the child and parent have purchased tickets at full price.
The RiverHawks are members of the Frontier League, a 12-team independent professional baseball league in its 17th season. Advertising and ticket information is available by calling (815) 885-2255. Fans can also visit the RiverHawks online at www.rockfordriverhawks.com. Most games are broadcast live on ESPN 1380, and on the team website.
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