NYPL Vermont Lake Monsters

Vermont Falls 9-5

Published on July 28, 2009 under New York-Penn League (NYPL)
Vermont Lake Monsters News Release


ONEONTA, NY --- John Murrian's grand slam home run in the bottom of the ninth inning capped off an Oneonta rally from an eighth inning 5-1 deficit as the Tigers beat the Vermont Lake Monsters 9-5 in New York-Penn League action Tuesday night at Damaschke Field.

Things were looking good for the Lake Monsters after Vermont had scored two runs in the top of the eighth for the 5-1 lead, but Oneonta would score three runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the deficit to one. Jamie Johnson and Michael Rockett led off the inning with singles off reliever Evan Bronson, then both scored as Rawley Bishop's singled and moved to third on a J.P. Ramirez two-base error.

After Bishop scored on a groundout and Bronson gave up his seventh hit in just 2 2/3 innings, Vermont closer Clayton Dill came on to record the final out of the eighth inning and keep the Lake Monster ahead 5-4. But Dill, who had not allowed a run in his last 14 innings and just one hit in his last seven, was touched for three extra-base hits in the ninth.

Luis Palacios led off with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and then scored the tying run on a Johnson RBI triple to leftfield. The Lake Monsters elected to walk the next two batters intentionally to load the bases with one out before Murrian launched an 0-2 pitch from Dill over the leftfield fence for the game-ending grand slam.

The loss wasted a second straight strong outing by Vermont newcomer Chad Jenkins, who allowed just one hit over five innings and retired the final 10 batters he faced. The Lake Monsters were leading 3-0 at that point thanks to two triples from Ronnie LaBrie. He led off the third with a triple and scored the game's first run on a groundout, then tripled home Jack Walker and scored on a Dani Arias RBI single in the fifth inning for the 3-0 Vermont lead.

LaBrie is just the fifth player in Vermont's 16-year history to have two triples in one game and just the second to do so on the road. Leonard Davis was the last Lake Monster with two triples on September 6, 2005 vs. Tri-City at Centennial Field, while the only other time on the road was Jose Fernandez at New Jersey on July 5, 1995.

Oneonta reliever Jose Ortega tossed the final 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the win in relief of Adam Wilk, who allowed five runs over 7 1/3 innings. Wilk had entered the game with a 0.30 ERA, allowing just 2 runs (1 earned) over 30 innings in his first six starts.

The Lake Monsters have now lost four straight games to fall back to the .500 mark (19-19) and are now four games behind the Tigers (21-14) for first-place in the Stedler Division. Vermont and Oneonta will continue the four-game series with the 7:05 pm contests Wednesday and Thursday at Centennial Field.

Check out the Vermont Lake Monsters Statistics

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New York-Penn League Stories from July 28, 2009


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