FL River City Rascals

Sneed Tosses a Gem in Rascals Second Straight Win

Published on July 5, 2016 under Frontier League (FL)
River City Rascals News Release


Zeb Sneed and Zac Treece combined for a three hit shutout and rookie Danny Rosenbaum drove in a pair of runs to lead the Rascals to their second straight victory, 3-0 over the Otters in Evansville Tuesday night. The shutout was the third of the year for the Rascals (22-24) pitching staff and all three have come on the road, a 2-0 shutout against Traverse City on June 1st and a 2-0 shutout against Schaumburg a few days later on June 4th.

Sneed was the lone pitcher against Traverse City in the first Rascals shutout and he nearly matched that line in his ninth start of the year Tuesday night. His offense gave him an early lead in the first inning and he tossed a gem to make sure that lead would hold.

In the top of the first inning, Braxton Martinez reached on an error with one out and got to third on a single down the right field line from Alexi Colon. Otters starter Luc Rennie hit Kyle Gaedele to load the bases and it brought up 2016 Western Division All-Star Josh Ludy.

Rennie nearly got himself out of the jam, however on a ground ball right back to him that had potential for a double play, he threw it by the catcher Julio Rodriguez and Martinez came into score the first run of the game. Rennie struck out the next batter and with three runners on and two outs, Danny Rosenbaum was set to make his professional debut.

Signed out of Louisville Tuesday morning, the former Cardinal lifted a ball over the second baseman's head that drove in a pair of runs and the Rascals gave Sneed a 3-0 lead for his first trip out to the mound.

"He came up in a huge spot with the bases loaded and got us a first pitch two out knock," manager Steve Brook said. "It was nice that we were able to capitalize on their two errors."

Those three runs were huge for Sneed because in his last four starts, his offense only gave him a total of two runs in 24 2/3 innings.

He took that lead and turned in eight stellar innings allowing just three hits and struck out seven. The righty did not allow a runner in scoring position until the fifth inning and left the game tossing 98 pitches. It was Sneed's seventh quality start in nine tries and he has now gone eight or more innings in three starts.

"I was able to get ahead of a lot of hitters and due to the early lead, I knew I had some cushion to force my fastball in the zone," Sneed said. "I was fortunate enough that the they were swinging at the first pitch a lot and it let me go deep into the game."

Manager Steve Brook went to lights out closer Zac Treece for the ninth and despite bringing the tying run to the plate after walk and a hit by pitch, he struck out the side and earned his tenth save of the year.

Despite the early lead, the Rascals offense was held quiet the rest of the night and only finished with the three runs in the opening frame. All three runs of the game were unearned and Rennie combined with reliever Shane Weedman to hold River City to just three more hits the remainder of the night.

With the win, the Rascals are now two games under .500 and have a two game winning streak for the first time since June 15th.

The Rascals will try to make it three in a row and have a chance to win their first series of the year against Evansville Wednesday night by sending Reese Gregory to the mound for his first start of the year.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 at historic Bosse Field and the game can be heard on rascals.caster.fm.

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Frontier League Stories from July 5, 2016


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