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Rock Cats Beat Senators -3

June 25, 2009 - Eastern League (EL1)
New Britain Rock Cats News Release


NEW BRITAIN - The first five outs of the game were painless for Carlos Martinez in the Harrisburg starter's first time out after a stay on the disabled list with shoulder fatigue. Five Rock Cats hitters stepped in against him, five went down.

A walk, a hit batter, two singles, a pair of two-run homers and a bases-clearing double later, and Martinez found himself in the clubhouse trailing 7-0. Six outs was all he would get before departing, staked to the crooked margin on the scoreboard.

The seven-run second inning barrage powered New Britain to a 8-5 victory in front of 4,385 at New Britain Stadium Thursday afternoon in the rubber game of a three-game set. The Rock Cats took the series to even up their win-loss mark against the Senators at 3-3 in the final meeting between the two clubs in 2009.

The Rock Cats matched a season-high by climbing to five-games over the .500-mark at 38-33. The Senators dropped to 27-42.

After Martinez got Erik Lis to ground to second for the second out of the second frame, Juan Portes worked a four-pitch walk. New Britain all-time RBI leader Matt Moses continued his hot homestand, stroking a 1-2 offering from Martinez over the right field wall. Yancarlos Ortiz and Danny Lehmann followed with back-to-back singles up the middle before Martinez plunked Brandon Roberts to load the bases. Rene Tosoni, New Britain's best run producer this year with 45 RBI, laced a double into the gap in left-center to bring everybody home. Brian Dinkelman capped the scoring with a two-run shot to right.

Rock Cats starter Ryan Mullins (4-8) turned in one of his best performances on the '09 campaign to pick up the win. In an outing that spanned six innings, the southpaw was credited with five strikeouts and didn't walk a single batter. His only hiccup came in the top of the fourth when the Senators struck for a three-spot, the big blow coming off the bat of Ofilio Castro who drove in two with a double - his first of two two-baggers for the contest.

The Rock Cats tacked onto their lead in the home half of the seventh, as Tosoni came home on a fielder's choice from Whit Robbins.

New Britain's Jay Rainville, making his second appearance as a reliever after previously serving as a member Rock Cats starting rotation, was effective for two innings but ran into trouble in his third. Rainville allowed three straight hits to open the ninth creating a save opportunity for Anthony Slama, who shut the door for his 15th save in 17 opportunities - the second-best tally in the Eastern League.

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