Rock Cats Swept By Altoona In Double Header

Published on June 12, 2013 under Eastern League (EL1)
New Britain Rock Cats News Release


New Britain, CT - The Rock Cats returned to New Britain Stadium Wednesday night, prepared to do double-barreled baseball battle with the Altoona Curve, cellar dwellers in the League's Western Division. The "˜Cats had not only played very well on their recent road trip, but also had their roster transformed a day earlier by the arrival of three of the Minnesota organization's most promising prospects. The struggling Curve, it appears, didn't get the memo as they proceeded to sweep the Rock Cats by 7-1 and 3-1 scores. A pair of Altoona hurlers - Stolmy Pimentel in the opener and David Bromberg in the nightcap - were outstanding. Pimentel allowed just three hits in a 7-inning, complete game effort; Bromberg, a former Rock Cat, allowed just 2 hits while striking out 12 in winning the back half of the twin-bill.

The opening game of Wednesday night's action was billed as the Eastern League coming out party for the newest Rock Cat - 20-year-old Miguel Sano, the top prospect in the entire Minnesota organization - but it turned out, instead, to be a comeback celebration for Altoona's Pimentel, who tossed a gem at New Britain.

The 23-year-old Pimental, a former top prospect himself in the Red Sox system, was in command much of the evening and it wasn't until the fifth inning that the Rock Cats collected their first hit, a ground ball in the hole that bounced off the short stop's glove. It was the first of only three safeties the Rock Cats would collect off the 6'3", 230-pounder in the game.

Pimentel's Altoona teammates brought their bats to the opener, rapping four hits in the 3rd inning off New Britain starter and loser, Pat Dean. The Curve's Drew Maggi and Alex Dickerson both collected 2-run Doubles in the frame after two were out, resulting in a 4-0 Altoona lead.

The Curve's Jarek Cunningham swatted southpaw Dean's first offering of the 5th inning over the left field wall to stretch Altoona's lead to 5-0.

The Rock Cats responded in the bottom of the 6th when, with one out, Eddie Rosario grounded a clean single through the infield for the "˜Cats second hit. The next two New Britain batters walked - they were the fifth and sixth free passes issued by the otherwise dominant Pimentel - bringing the promising Sano to the plate with the bases loaded. The rookie hit a fly ball to left that was deep enough to bring Rosario in with New Britain's only marker of the night; it was Sano's first RBI at the AA level.

The Curve reacted by plating two more runs in the top of the 7th off New Britain right-handed reliever Cole Johnson, making the score 7-1.

The Rock Cats collected their third hit of the night off Pimentel - a double by Reynaldo Rodriguez in the bottom of the 7th - but the big righty stranded him to secure the win.

Pimentel improved his record to 4-3 with the victory. He went the distance tossing exactly 100 pitches, striking out 5 while walking 6. Dean, the Naugatuck native, had a streak of three brilliant outings snapped and his record fell to 3-7.

Game 2 of the doubleheader had a pair of hard-throwing right-handers going - Trevor May for New Britain and David Bromberg, the former Rock Cat, for Altoona. As in the opener, the Curve drew first blood.

After May issued a lead-off walk to Altoona's Kelson Brown, Oscar Tejeda had the green light on a 3-0 pitch and promptly belted it over the left-center field fence to give the visitors a 2-0 advantage.

In the bottom of the 3rd, the Rock Cats quickly loaded the bases on two singles and a base on balls. With nobody out, Bromberg stiffened and allowed only a run-scoring sacrifice fly to left by Miguel Sano. Bromberg escaped further difficulty when, with two outs, New Britain's Eddie Rosario was thrown out attempting to go from second to third on a ball that briefly got away from the Altoona catcher, Ali Soltis. Soltis scrambled and threw a strike to third to cut down Rosario and end the threat.

The Rock Cats would not score again as Bromberg got stronger and held his ex-mates in check, retiring the final eleven New Britain batters he faced.

Altoona added to their margin in the top of the 7th with a single by Soltis, a stolen base, and an RBI single by Mel Rojas, Jr. That gave the Curve a 3-1 advantage.

After 6 complete innings and 105 pitches, Bromberg yielded to Curve reliever, Luis Sanz, to pitch the 7th and final frame. After allowing a lead-off single to Reynaldo Rodriguez, Sanz struck out the side to seal the win.

With the victory, Bromberg's record improved to 3-6. Trevor May pitched well for the Rock Cats but saw his record fall to 5-3. Sanz picked up his 3rd Save of the year. The Rock Cats scored only 2 runs all night - and both were knocked in with sac flies by Miguel Sano.

The two teams will close the three-game series with another contest tomorrow night at 6:35 PM.

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Eastern League Stories from June 12, 2013


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