PCL1 Albuquerque Isotopes

Robinson Belts Walk-Off Homer as 'Topes Win 7-6 in 10

Published on June 11, 2011 under Pacific Coast League (PCL1)
Albuquerque Isotopes News Release


A tenth-inning home run from Trayvon Robinson lifted the Albuquerque Isotopes (34-26) to a 7-6 walk-off victory over the Nashville Sounds (27-33) Friday night at Isotopes Park. The dramatic victory was the Isotopes' seventh walk-off win of the season and their 16th victory in one-run games against just five defeats.

With the score knotted at 6-6, Robinson led off the bottom of the tenth for the Isotopes and, after taking his first pitch from Sounds reliever Sean Green for a ball, the left-fielder socked the next offering over the centerfield wall to instantly give Albuquerque the 7-6 win. Robinson's round-tripper, his 13th of the season, also extended his current hitting streak to 12 games after he'd failed to record a hit in his previous four at-bats.

In addition to the last lead, the Isotopes also took the first lead of the contest in the bottom of the second inning. John Lindsey led off the inning by reaching on a throwing error by Nashville's Zelous Wheeler and then went to second on a single by Russ Mitchell. A fly out by Robinson moved Lindsey to third before a sacrifice fly by Jamie Hoffmann got him home to make it 1-0, Albuquerque.

Nashville made sure the lead was short-lived, as Wheeler knocked a one-out triple to right field and then scored the tying run on a sacrifice fly by starting pitcher Sam Narron.

With the score now 1-1, Albuquerque answered with a four-run surge in its half of the third that began with a solo homer to left from Justin Sellers. After back-to-back one out hits from Ivan De Jesus Jr. and A.J. Ellis put runners on the corners, Jerry Sands, making his first start since returning to the Isotopes from the Dodgers, lifted a sacrifice fly to center, plating the lead runner and increasing the lead to 3-1 ‚¬ËœTopes. That brought Lindsey to the dish and the first baseman didn't disappoint the home crowd, crushing a two-run homer to left that capped the four-run burst and gave Albuquerque a 5-1 advantage.

The Sounds got a pair of runs back in the fourth to cut the lead to 5-3 before Albuquerque added some insurance in the sixth when Hoffmann roped a single, advanced to second on a single by Sellers, and scored on a clutch pinch-hit single by Eugenio Velez to give the Isotopes a 6-3 cushion.

Unfortunately for Albuquerque, the Sounds erased the three-run deficit in their half of the seventh inning. After Wheeler led off the inning with a single, former Isotope Brett Carroll laced a two-out single, scoring Wheeler to cut the gap to 6-4. Mat Gamel then smashed a two-run homer to right, tying the game at 6-6.

That's the way it would stay thanks to some nifty pitching by Merkin Valdez, who entered the game in the ninth and pitched around a one-out double, leaving the go-ahead run at third with a strikeout of Carroll to end the frame. In the next inning, Valdez (3-1) struck out the side around a one-out single to set up Robinson's heroics and earn his third win of the season. The hard-throwing righty struck out five of the eight batters he faced.

The Isotopes continue their series with the Sounds with lefty Randy Keisler (1-2, 5.96) taking the mound for Albuquerque against Nashville right-hander Amaury Rivas (4-5, 4.36). Due to concerns involving potential smoke from the Arizona wildfires impacting the game, first pitch is now 4:35 PM at Isotopes Park.

Despite the earlier start time, the ‚¬ËœTopes are still planning on having a post-game fireworks show, wind permitting, on Saturday followed by Tote Bags to the first 3,000 fans courtesy of United RV on Sunday's 1:35 PM matinee.. Tickets for any Isotopes game may be purchased at the Isotopes Park Box Office, at Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 1-800-745-3000, or on-line at www.albuquerquebaseball.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

Check out the Albuquerque Isotopes Statistics

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Pacific Coast League Stories from June 11, 2011


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