WhiteWings Drop Fifth Straight

July 2, 2012 - North American League (NAmL)
Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings News Release


FORT WORTH- Steven Barnes threw seven shutout innings and Brandon Jones drove in two runs to lead the Fort Worth Cats to a 5-0 victory against the Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings Monday night at LaGrave Field.

In winning the game, the Cats (21-16) moved past the WhiteWings (20-17) into second place in the United League.

"They're playing good," Fort Worth manager Curtis Wilkerson said of his team, which has won four straight games. "We're getting the timely hits and the pitching has been good. They've been throwing strikes and you have to do that to win."

Barnes (4-1), a rookie righthander from Mississippi Valley State, had, in fact, struggled with control earlier this season, walking 24 batters with 29 strikeouts coming into the game.

But against the WhiteWings he was able to get his two and four seam fastball over for strikes and did not walk a hitter for the first five innings before passing four in his last two frames.

However, if his control faltered a little, he still was a mystery to Rio Grande Valley bats, as the WhiteWings failed to collect a hit off Barnes and three relief pitchers in the final seven innings.

"We have not been playing well. Those four games we could have won," said WhiteWings manager Eddie Dennis before the game.

The loss was his team's fifth straight and roster changes are expected.

Fort Worth scored two runs in the bottom of the second when third baseman Brandon Jones drove in first baseman Jose Ruiz with a sacrifice fly and catcher Derek Marshall followed with a single to left off Celson Polanco (5-2) to drive in shortstop Shelby Ford. Polanco threw seven innings and allowed eight hits and three earned runs despite staying ahead in the count to the point he did not throw more than five pitches to a hitter until the seventh inning.

In the seventh, Fort Worth scored three more times when Jones drove in Ford with a hit. Then, with two out, Jon Dziomba collected an infield hit with Jones and Marshall on base, but Polanco threw the ball away attempting to throw out Dziomba at first, thus allowing the runners to score.

The WhiteWings will close out their seven game road trip tonight against the Cats with Brownsville native Henry Garcia pitching against Fort Worth's Tim Haines, a Texas-Pan American product. The game can be heard through links on www.whitewingsbaseball.net.

The WhiteWings return home on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. against San Angelo for Fireworks night, sponsored by The City of Harlingen.



North American League Stories from July 2, 2012


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