Rock Cats Come Up Short Against Sea Dogs

Published on May 6, 2012 under Eastern League (EL1)
New Britain Rock Cats News Release


NEW BRITAIN, CT - New Britain starter B.J. Hermsen engaged in an old-fashion pitchers' duel with Portland's Billy Buckner. It was Buckner and the Sea Dogs who came out on top, 3-1 before a sellout crowd of 6,252 on Sunday afternoon at New Britain Stadium.

"Both starting pitchers threw pretty well," said manager Jeff Smith. "(Hermsen) kept the ball down in the zone."

Hermsen cruised the first inning of his New Britain Stadium debut - and just his second Eastern League outing - before serving up a leadoff homer to Reynaldo Rodriguez to open the second inning.

The Rock Cats struck back in the bottom of the fourth. Chris Colabello delivered a two-out double and came around to score on a single by Aaron Hicks.

That was all the offense the Rock Cats could muster, though, as the team continued to struggle with hitting when it matters most.

"We had chances once again. Our bats are very poor with runners in scoring position," said Smith. "We're getting a lot of hits, what I call meaningless hits without any guys on base. We need to transfer those over and have better intensity with guys in scoring position."

The Sea Dogs regained the lead in the sixth when Jeremy Hazelbaker led off with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Juan Carlos Linares for the 2-1 lead. In the seventh, Hermsen ran into trouble with singles by Oscar Tejeda and Matt Spring. With one out, the Rock Cats turned to reliever Bobby Lanigan, who struck out the first batter he faced. Lanigan then allowed a double to Zach Gentile that knocked in Tejeda for another Sea Dogs' run.

Buckner (1-2) struck out eight and scattered five hits in six innings. Charle Rosario tossed a scoreless ninth to notch his first save of the season.

Hermsen (0-1) finished with three runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked just one. Brett Jacobson struck out three in two shutout innings out of the Rock Cats bullpen.

ALLSTATE PLAYER OF THE GAME: RHP B.J. Hermsen turned in a quality start for the Rock Cats, allowing three runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five.

OF NOTE: The Rock Cats set a new record for a weekend series attendance (19,061) this early in the season. The weekend three-game series resulted in three-consecutive sellouts.

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Eastern League Stories from May 6, 2012


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