Rock Cats Rally to Defeat Binghamton

Published on July 10, 2009 under Eastern League (EL1)
New Britain Rock Cats News Release


New Britain, CT - Erik Lis went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate - including a solo home run in the eighth that put the punctuation mark on a Rock Cats' comeback - and scored four runs as the Rock Cats defeated Binghamton, 10-7 in front of a sellout crowd of 6,826 on Friday night.

The Rock Cats clawed back twice during the game to erase a shaky start by Ryan Mullins. The comeback took place on a night when the ‘Cats broke out for 17 hits and the two teams battled it out on the field for over three and a half hours.

Mullins made quick work of the first two batters of the game, but then allowed two consecutive singles to Ike Davis and Josh Petersen. Caleb Stewart then delivered a double to left field to knock in Davis for the 1-0 advantage. The B-Mets scored again on an RBI double in the second by Jonathan Malo.

The Rock Cats came back in the bottom of the second when Toby Gardenhire and Lis started the inning off with back-to-back singles. Danny Lehmann advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt down the third baseline. Brandon Roberts drew a walk to load up the bases and Brian Dinkelman followed with a single that plated Gardenhire for the first Rock Cats' run of the game. Yancarlos Ortiz sent a sacrifice fly to center field to score Lis to tie the game. The B-Mets' Eric Niesen then plunked Rene Tosoni with a pitch to load the bases again. Niesen walked Luke Hughes, allowing Roberts to score the go-ahead run.

Mullins managed to hold the lead by retiring the only three batters he faced during the third inning, but the wheels fell off in the fourth as Binghamton broke out for a five-run inning. Mullins started the inning off by striking out leadoff batter Salvador Paniagua but then deflected Ruben Tejeda's sharply hit ball into left field for a double. Mullins walked Emmanuel Garcia before serving up an RBI single to Malo. Jose Coronado added an RBI single. The Rock Cats sent out Carlos Gutierrez to the mound in relief of Mullins and he walked the first batter he faced to load the bases. Stewart then lined a single into center field to knock in two more runs. Lucas Duda rounded out the inning with an RBI single to left field.

The Rock Cats answered back in the fifth with an RBI double by Lehmann and a sacrifice fly by Brian Dinkelman that scored Lehmann to close the gap, 7-6. In the sixth, the ‘Cats struck again when Luke Hughes, who tripled, scored on a base hit by Juan Portes to tie the game.

Rene Tosoni put the Rock Cats ahead for good with a two-run single in the seventh. Lis added a solo home run in the eighth.

Alex Burnett (1-2) picked up the win in relief with 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief. Anthony Slama notched his 19th save - second best in the league - with two shutout innings to close out the game. Edgar Alfonzo (4-3) suffered the loss for the B-Mets.

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Eastern League Stories from July 10, 2009


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