SAL1 Jersey Shore BlueClaws

Velasquez Gets Ninth in Win for BlueClaws

Published on June 13, 2009 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Jersey Shore BlueClaws News Release


EAST LAKE, OH - Starter Jon Velasquez picked up his league-leading ninth win of the season as the Lakewood BlueClaws snuck past the Lake County Captains 4-2 to win their third straight game and maintain their lead in the South Atlantic League North.

The BlueClaws (36-24) got on the board in the first inning for the second straight game as Anthony Gose doubled to center and the next batter Travis d'Arnaud hit an RBI-double to score Gose and give the BlueClaws a 1-0 lead.

The lead was put on hold in the bottom of the first as the Captains (26-33) tacked on a run to tie the game, but the BlueClaws took the lead right back in the second inning as hot-hitting Travis Mattair singled to lead off the inning, moved to second on a ground ball and then scored on a single by D'Arby Myers to make it 2-1 BlueClaws.

The score would stay that way until the sixth, when the BlueClaws added another run on a weird play. With Mattair on first, Jeremy Hamilton grounded the ball to third, the third baseman Adam Abraham threw the ball low to first, allowing Mattair to advance to third and then he scored as the Captains vacated home plate, leaving it unoccupied and the aggressive baserunning by Mattair allowed the BlueClaws to take a 3-1 lead.

The Captains made it 3-2 ballgame as Chris Nash took a Velasquez offering to deep center, going over the head of Gose and hitting the base of the wall. The ball got away from Gose, and before it was thrown back into the infield, Nash had circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

The BlueClaws got some breathing room in the eighth as Myers reached second base on an error and scored on a single by Harold Garcia. The run gave the BlueClaws a 4-2 lead.

After throwing seven innings and allowing just one hit in his last start Velasquez (9-2) continued the trend of strong starting pitching for the BlueClaws with a seven-inning two-run performance. He allowed five hits, no walks and he struck out two. Justin De Fratus then entered the game in the eighth and worked a one- two-three inning and stayed in to strike out the first batter in the ninth. Ryan Bergh came on for the final two outs and picked up his team-leading tenth save of the season.

A recent call-up from extended spring training, Captains starter Chris Jones (1-1) pitched well in his second start of the season. He lasted until one out in the sixth and allowed two earned runs. Mike McGuire then came in and allowed the remaining BlueClaws run.

The win shrinks the BlueClaws magic number for making the playoffs by one and depending on results by the Delmarva Shorebirds, the BlueClaws could increase or slightly decrease their lead in the division, which was 2.5 at the beginning of the day.

With the win, the BlueClaws move to 12 games over .500 for the first time this season.

The BlueClaws and Captains will finish their three- game series as the BlueClaws look for the sweep on Sunday afternoon at 1:00pm. The BlueClaws will start All-Star Tyler Cloyd (6-3) and he will be opposed by Danny Salazar (1-2).

Check out the Jersey Shore BlueClaws Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



South Atlantic League Stories from June 13, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central