Rookies Lead Captains Past Cats

Published on July 1, 2009 under American Association (AA)
Shreveport-Bossier Captains News Release


SHREVEPORT, La. - With their inconsistent season taking another ride up the roller coaster Wednesday night, the Shreveport-Bossier Captains may have found one thing they can rely on - rookie starter Jimmy Heard. The righty from Shreveport went six shutout innings to help the Captains beat the Fort Worth Cats 4-2 in front of a crowd of 722 at Fair Grounds Field. Fellow rookies Joe Urtuzuastegui (RBI single) and Jakob Cunningham (scoreless relief inning) also helped the Captains' cause, as Shreveport-Bossier (19-25) built a 4-0 lead and held on late for the win.

The Captains have now alternated losses and wins for 10 straight games, but improved to 4-2 on the season against first-half champion Fort Worth (30-14).

Cats righty rookie Matt Gibbs (0-1) matched Heard (2-0) with zeroes early, getting double plays in each of the first two innings to end Captains threats before a 1-2-3 third inning. But in the fourth, Gibbs walked Dwayne White to start the frame, the third leadoff man to reach in four innings. After a force-out, Andres Rodriguez and Jose Torres both walked to load the bases. Kevin Griffin then hit a grounder up the middle that shortstop Cameron Blair could only turn into one out, as Dwayne White scored the first run of the game. Urtuzuastegui followed with his RBI single to make it 2-0.

Shreveport-Bossier got two more in the next inning, as two more leadoff men reached on singles by Jose Salazar and Jonathan Reynoso. After a grounder by White and a dropped catch error by second baseman Isa Garcia loaded the bases, Christopher Garcia singled home one run and Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to center for another.

Heard then got into his only big jam of the night, when he had first and second with one out in the top of the sixth. But he got the third hitter, John Allen, to foul out to first, and after Heard made an error to load the bases, the righty got the dangerous Patrick O'Sullivan to pop out to shallow center and keep the runners from tagging, before Michael Bell grounded out to third to end the threat.

That ended the night for Heard, who went six innings, allowing three hits and two walks with a pair of strikeouts.

On came Cunningham in the seventh, who gave up an infield hit to Kelley Gulledge to start the inning. But Cunningham picked Gulledge off first, and then got a pair of comebackers to finish the frame.

The Cats got on the board with a run in the eighth off Matt Petty, who hit the leadoff man Brian Fryer, before giving up a two-out RBI hit to Allen. Justin Dowdy came on in the ninth, and gave up a pair of doubles to Gulledge and Garcia before settling down to get a foul out, a strikeout, and a harmless grounder to second from Blair to pick up his fourth save of the season.

Notes: O'Sullivan extended his American Association-record hitting streak to 27 with a single in the eighth...White's nine-game hitting streak ended with an 0-for-3 night...The Captains only made on out in the outfield - Rodriguez's sacrifice fly...All nine Captains hits were singles...Salazar had his first multi-hit game in six contests with Shreveport-Bossier.

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American Association Stories from July 1, 2009


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