Spiehs fuels 5-4 win with his bat
September 2, 2006 - Eastern League (EL1)
Connecticut Defenders News Release
The Defenders staged a late inning comeback on Saturday night against the Binghamton Mets with the eventual game winning hit coming from the bat of relief pitcher R.D. Spiehs on a pinch hit single.
The Defenders got in front with some early offense beginning in the 1st inning when Tyler Von Schell knocked in lead off man Dan Ortmeier with an RBI single. Nate Schierholtz did the honors with an RBI single in the 2nd inning scoring Jake Wald to give the Defenders a 2-0 lead. Garrett Broshuis worked five shutout innings before running into trouble in the 6th inning. A chase Lambin double into the right field gap tied the game 2-2, but Binghamton was not done, scoring another run on a Jorge Padilla sacrifice fly to go out in front. Binghamton scored on a sac fly again in the 7th to take a 4-2 lead.
The Defenders struck back in the bottom of the 8th inning. With two outs and a runner on first base, Todd Jennings beat out an infield single to extend the inning. The next batter, Jake Wald tied the game as he slammed a double into left center field to plate Brian Horwitz and Jennings. With Walk on second base and the pitcher spot coming up, Dave Machemer turned to relief pitcher R.D. Spiehs to pinch hit. Last night Spiehs worked four innings and went two for two at the plate. Spiehs came through again, lifting a 97 mile per hour fastball from Matt Lindstrom into right centerfield to score Wald and put his team in front 5-4. Osiris Matos shut the door in the 9th inning for his second save in a 5-4 win.
The Connecticut Defenders will give the ball to Geno Espineli (7-7) on Saturday, as the left-hander will make his final start of 2006. The Binghamton Mets will send right-hander Kevin Mulvey to the mound for a 2:05 p.m. start.
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