Tornadoes Hang on For Series Win in New Jersey
August 9, 2007 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
Worcester Tornadoes News Release
Little Falls, NJ -- The Tornadoes combined strong pitching, timely hitting and solid defense, as they weathered a Jackals rally in the 9th to hang on and defeat New Jersey, 4-3, at Yogi Berra Stadium on Thursday night and take two out of three in the series.
Worcester struck first, batting around and scoring three runs off righty Ryan Pacyna (5-1) in the 3rd inning. Dominic Ramos ripped a two-run double and Patrick Perry added an RBI single in the inning. Righty Ryan Mitchell pitched very well in his first start of the season, tossing three shutout innings, allowing just one hit, before leaving do to a 50-pitch count restriction. Chris Shank (4-0) came on for the 4th and allowed a two-out two-run single to Guillermo Reyes to bring the Jackals within one, but Rico Santana got one back with a two-out RBI double in the top of the 5th to put the Tornadoes back up, 4-2.
The score remained that way until the bottom of the 9th inning when righty P.J. Bevis allowed back-to-back one-out singles to Clyde Williams and Wilton Veras, putting men at the corners. Reyes then grounded one to second base that appeared to be a game-ending double play, but Reyes was called safe at first after the forceout at second. A run scored on the play, making it 4-3 Tornadoes. Bevis then lost his command of the strike zone, walking Joe Mihalics and Zach Smithlin to load the bases and put the tying and winning runs in scoring position. Bevis was lifted in favor of John Birtwell who induced a routine flyout to rightcenter off the bat of Francisco Leandro to preserve the win.
Shank (4-0) picked up the win and Pacyna (5-1) suffered his first loss as a pro. Birtwell earned his 9th save of the season. The Tornadoes finish the season series at an even 5-5 with New Jersey. 6 of the 10 games the two teams played this season were decided by one run. The Tornadoes head home to start a three-game series against the Grays starting on Friday night. Righty Shaun McNamara will make the spot start for Worcester and he will be opposed by Grays righty Elliott Shaw. First pitch is set for 7:05pm.
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