NYPL Vermont Lake Monsters

Tri-City doubles up Expos

Published on August 1, 2004 under New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Vermont Lake Monsters News Release


Troy, NY- Mario Garza hit his New York-Penn League leading 13th home run of the season to snap a 3-3 tie and lead the Stedler Division-leading Tri-City ValleyCats to a 6-3 victory over the Vermont Expos Sunday evening at Bruno Stadium.

The Valley Cats had scored single runs on seven total hits in each of the first three innings off Expos starter Greg Bunn for a 3-0 lead before the Expos tied the game with four runs in the top of the fourth inning.

Luke Montz got Vermont on the scoreboard with a two-run homer, his sixth home run of the season, to cut the Tri-City lead to 3-2. The Expos then took advantage of wildness from ValleyCat starter Evan Englebrook to tie the game after back-to-back hit batters, a walk and a passed ball to score Steve Mortimer with the tying run.

Francisco Sandoval relieved Bunn in the fourth inning and allowed just one hit and two walks over three innings, while Englebrook finished his six innings of work with five hits allowed, one walk and 11 strikeouts.

Brett Campbell (0-1) took over for Sandoval in the bottom of the seventh and walked Ben Zobrist to start the inning. Garza followed with his two-run homer to rightfield, the fourth straight game that Garza has hit a home run and his eighth homer in his last 13 games.

The Expos had a chance to get back in the game in the eighth as another hit by pitch and walk put runners on first and third with one out, but Montz hit into a 5-4-3 double play to kill the rally. Brandon Averill then led off the Tri-City eighth with his first home run of the year for a 6-3 lead.

Paul Estrada (4-1) tossed two scoreless innings of relief for the win, while Chad Reineke struckout two in the ninth inning for his second save. Garza, Johnny Ash and Francisco Caraballo each had two hits for Tri-City (26-16).

Ofilio Castro was 2-for-3 wth a run scored for Vermont (19-22), which had just five hits in the game and has a team batting average of .144 (35-for-243) over the last eight games. The loss to Tri-City also drops the Expos 6.5 games behind the ValleyCats for first-place in the Stedler Division.

The two teams will play the middle game of the three-game series on Monday night at Tri-City with Jim Henderson starting for the Expos. After the series finale on Tuesday at 12 noon, Vermont returns home to begin a three-game series with Williamsport on Wednesday at Centennial Field.

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New York-Penn League Stories from August 1, 2004


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