Spot Starter Shuts Down Shorthanded Captains

Published on June 18, 2009 under American Association (AA)
Shreveport-Bossier Captains News Release


SHREVEPORT, La. - When the game started Thursday night, the Pensacola Pelicans, with a nine-man pitching staff and a spot starter going for the second time in the series, looked like a seriously shorthanded team. By the time it ended, the Shreveport-Bossier Captains were the ones looking in need of reinforcements, as Pensacola nipped the walking wounded Captains 3-1 in front of 1,769 at Fair Grounds Field.

All three runs for the Pelicans (14-18) came in a seven-batter stretch in the second inning against starter Aaron Cunningham (1-2). The lefty allowed five straight singles to start the inning, getting one out on a rundown but also balking in a run, before a two-out single by Jimmy Mojica made it 3-0.

Cunningham allowed just two baserunners for the rest of his career-high seven innings of work, a single in the fifth and an error erased on a double play in the seventh. He struck out four and did not walk anyone, but took a tough-luck loss as his shorthanded teammates came up short against a trip of Pelicans righties.

Dane DeValk (2-1) started in place of Bubba Nelson, and went six innings, allowing one run on six singles, with a walk and five strikeouts, to beat the Captains for the second time this season. In his first start of 2009, DeValk ran in to trouble in the second, but struck out Kevin Griffin with runners at first and third to end the inning and in the fourth, getting Garcia to pop out and Griffin to strikeout once more.

Shreveport-Bossier's only run came in the sixth, when Jose Torres knocked in Rodney Medina with a single. Torres's mere presence in the game when he entered was disheartening to the Captains, who lost a pair of second baseman to injuries in one inning. B.J. Wheeler, who hurt his knee on a takeout slide in Sioux City last week, left the game in the fourth, and Joe Urtuzuastegui played an inning of second base without any incident. But when Urtuzuastegui came up to bat in the fourth, DeValk hit him in the left shoulder with the first pitch of the at-bat, and Urtuzuastegui was unable to stay in the game after that.

That forced Torres into the game, the only remaining position player on the Captains' bench. With Torres coming in to play leftfield in the fifth, it started a carousel of changes, with the starting leftfielder Dwayne White moving to right, Selwyn Langaigne moving to first base, Andres Rodriguez moving to third, and Christopher Garcia going to second for the first time in his life. Rodriguez last played third in 2007, while Langaigne has not been at first since 2001. In five innings, the trio of misaligned infielders did not make any errors in their new positions, and Garcia even turned a 6-4-3 double play. No balls were hit to Rodriguez, although Francisco Leandro did bunt one foul to third on the first pitch with the new formation.

Meanwhile, reliever Ulysses Roque came on in the seventh for Pensacola, and fell behind Griffin 3-0 before giving up a full-count single. Despite also falling behind the next three hitters, Roque got them all out, and fell behind three of four batters in the eighth, but only allowed one hit that inning as well. The Captains (13-19) had scored off Roque in three of his first four outings against them, but he held them in check tonight, sending the game to the ninth for closer Hunter Davis, who blew a two-run lead in the previous game, only to get the win in the tenth inning.

This time, Davis was sharp, striking out Garcia, before getting Griffin and Albert Gonzalez on grounders to end the game and get his eighth save.

The win split the four-game series, with Pensacola taking the last two games by a combined score of 8-5 after the Captains won the first two by a total of 21-7.

Notes: Jakob Cunningham pitched the final two innings for the Captains, striking out the first four men he faced, all swinging, before getting a grounder, giving up a walk, and getting another grounder. In two games, he has struck out six in three innings, giving up just the walk...Roque came into the game with 20 walks in 20 innings, but did not issue a free pass despite falling behind all of his eight hitters but Langaigne, who swung at the first pitch he saw and grounded out in the eighth...DeValk did have 50 starts in his professional career prior to this season.

The Shreveport-Bossier Captains welcome in the Grand Prairie AirHogs for a three-game weekend set, starting on Friday, June 19, at 7:05 p.m. All fans 12 and under will receive a free Captain Jack pirate hat, courtesy of Image Plus. All games are broadcast on ESPN Radio, KRMD-1340 AM and streamed live on supertalk1340.com, with streaming video provided by NiftyTV on www.sbcaptains.com for all home games and select road games. For information on tickets, promotions, advertising, and other opportunities with the Captains, check out the team's Web site at www.sbcaptains.com, or call the Fair Grounds Field office at (318) 636-5555.

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American Association Stories from June 18, 2009


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