Rock Cats Recap

New Britain is 4-9, in sixth place in the EL North, 5.5 games behind New Hampshire.

Saturday

The battle of the New Cats went to the Hampshire Fishers again, as the New Hampshire Fisher Cats defeated the New Britain Rock Cats 7-2 in New Britain. New Hampshire jumped to a 3-0 lead in the second on a three-run homer by Nick Gorneault. New Britain scored two in the bottom of the second on singles by Wilson Ramos and Juan Portes, a walk to Toby Gardenhire, and a two-run single by Yancarlos Ortiz. The Fisher Cats scored again in the third to make it 4-2, which is where the score stayed until the eighth, when New Hampshire mounted a three-run rally on four hits and two walks. The Rock Cats loaded the bases in both eighth and ninth, but failed to score. Danny Valencia had three hits to lead New Britain. Matthew Fox pitched 4.2 innings, giving up four runs on five hits and three walks, striking out five. Anthony Slama and Yohan Pino each pitched a scoreless inning. Mark Rzepczinski gave up two runs on four hits to get the win, with David Shinskie credited with a save.

Sunday

The Rock Cats broke through with eleven runs in the sixth inning on their way to a 12-2 victory over New Hampshire. The Fisher Cats scored in the first and fourth to take a 2-0 lead. New Britain countered with one in the fifth on an error, a walk, and a single by Brian Dinkelman, the Rock Cats' first hit of the game. The sixth inning outburst featured eight hits, four walks, and a hit batsman. Key hits were a two-run triple by Whitney Robbins, two-run singles by Allan de San Miguel and Erik Lis, and doubles by Matt Moses and Rene Tosoni. Amazingly for such a big rally, there were no sacrifice bunts. Lis had three hits and Dinkelman, Robbins and Tosoni had two apiece, Robbins driving in three runs. Jeff Manship pitched five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and three walks. Rob Delaney and Jose Lugo combined for four scoreless innings of relief, with Delaney getting the win.

Monday

Rained out--no make-up date announced.

Tuesday

Rained out--no make-up date announced.

Wednesday

The Rock Cats built an early 6-0 lead and then hung on to defeat Portland 6-4 in New Britain. The Cats scored three in the second when Wilson Ramos and Whitney Robbins singled and Matt Moses hit a three-run homer. They added a run in the fourth on a Brian Dinkelman single and an Erik Lis double, and scored twice in the fourth when Robbins walked and Rene Tosoni hit a two-run home run. Meanwhile, Jay Rainville retired the first ten Sea Dogs and twelve of the first thirteen. Things changed in the fifth, however, when a single and two doubles plated two runs for Portland. A leadoff homer in the sixth ended Rainville's day, and the Sea Dogs scored another run in the inning on a walk, a double, and a sacrifice fly. Portland threatened to tie the game when it opened the ninth with a single and double off Anthony Slama. Slama came back to strike out the next two players, and the game ended on a tremendous defensive play by Robbins at first base on a ground ball down the line. Dinkelman and Moses each had two hits. Rainville got the win, giving up three runs and six hits (four for extra bases) in five innings. Rob Delaney and Slama each pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, Slama striking out three to get the save.

Thursday

New Britain's winning streak ended at two as they lost to the Trenton Thunder 4-1 in Trenton.  Neither team threatened until the fourth, when the Thunder got on the board with a two-run homer by Jorge Vazquez.  The Rock Cats got one in the fifth when Wilson Ramos doubled, took third on a ground out and scored on a sacrifice fly.  Trenton scored two more in the sixth on two singles, a walk, and a two-run single by Vazquez, who drove in all four Thunder runs.  The fifth was the only time New Britain got a runner past first base.  Ryan Mullins gave up only five hits in 5.1 innings, but gave them up in bunches, two in the fourth and three in the sixth.  He struck out five.  Frank Mata pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, striking out four, and Yohan Pino pitched a perfect eighth, striking out two.  Zach McAlister was the winner for Trenton, giving up one run on only two hits in seven innings.  Michael Dunn pitched the last two, not giving up a hit in getting the save.

New Britain is tied for sixth in the league in runs scored, tied for fifth in homers, eleveth in stolen bases, eighth in OBP, eighth in slugging, eleventh in batting average, and tenth in OPS.
The Rock Cats are twelfth (last) in ERA, tied for third in home runs allowed, first in strikeouts, sixth in walks allowed, and tenth in WHIP.
Danny Valencia is tied for third in the league in walks.

Notes: Anthony Slama is unscored upon in six consecutive appearances...The Rock Cats used three pitchers in the sixth inning Wednesday, in which Portland scored only two runs. That's unusual. A minor league manager can be in a tough spot sometimes--he wants to win games, but he also knows his job is to develop players, so he usually can't get carried away with strategic moves, even if he'd like to do so...Joe Gaetti is on the disabled list with a sprained ankle.  He has been replaced on the roster by outfielder Brandon Roberts.

After the jump, we've got the Rock Cats pitching and hitting leaders.

Batters are ordered by OPS. Who’s that kid on the top of the list?

Pitchers are ordered based on innings pitched.