Rock Cats Fight into the Ninth; Come up Short against Altoona 4-3

Published on June 23, 2014 under Eastern League (EL1)
New Britain Rock Cats News Release


New Britain, CT - The Rock Cats were defeated by the Altoona Curve 4-3 on Monday evening at New Britain Stadium. The loss snaps New Britain's eleven game win streak, the longest in franchise history.

Altoona jumped out to an early 2-0 lead as they collected three singles off of RHP Virgil Vasquez. CF Junior Sosa, who would leave the game with a lower body injury while legging out a triple, scored on a C Elias Diaz sacrifice fly and DH Matt Curry's base hit sent LF Drew Maggi across the plate.

The Cats' responded with a run in the bottom of the second to cut into Altoona's lead. LF Corey Wimberly, who has seen limited time in June while recovering from a hamstring injury, collected the RBI on a groundout that allowed 3B Brandon Waring to break for home.

New Britain tied the game up 2-2 in the bottom of the third after RF Reynaldo Rodriguez singled home CF Eddie Rosario. Rosario, who singled himself earlier in the inning, moved along the basepath when 2B Nate Hanson was hit by a pitch from Curve starter LHP Zack Dodson and 1B Kennys Vargas flew out to deep right.

The visitors answered back in the very next inning with one swing of the bat from RF Willy Garcia. With Curry on first, the outfielder sent Vasquez's offering high over the wall in left-center for a two-run home run, giving Altoona a 4-2 lead.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, DH Aaron Hicks doubled off of reliever LHP Jhonathan Ramos and scored the following at-bat on a single from Rosario, his third hit of the evening. After Rosario moved over to third, Curve Manager Carlos Garcia intentionally walked Vargas to get to Rodriguez, who popped out in foul territory to end the threat.

Vasquez battled for six innings, scattering eight hits while giving up four runs, walking three and striking out two. His record drops to 4-3.

Dodson moves to 2-3 after hurling six innings, allowing two runs on five hits while walking three and striking out one. Reliever Ryan Beckman earns his fourth save of the year.

The Rock Cats continue the series Tuesday evening with a 6:35 p.m. scheduled start time. LHP Pat Dean gets the start for New Britain while Altoona sends RHP Pat Ludwig to the hill.

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Eastern League Stories from June 23, 2014


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