Rock Cats Recap

New Britain is 39-36, second in the EL North, 4.5 games behind Connecticut.

Wednesday

The Twins' desire to limit Carlos Gutierrez' innings cost New Britain a game, as the Harrisburg Senators scored four times against the New Britain bullpen to defeat the Rock Cats 5-3 in New Britain. New Britain took a 1-0 lead in the first when Brandon Roberts singled, went to third on a Rene Tosoni double, and scored on Whitney Robbins' single. They went up 3-0 in the second when Matt Moses singled, Yancarlos Ortiz walked, and Allan de San Miguel tripled them both in. The Rock Cats missed a chance to add to their lead in the fourth, when they got runners to second and third with one out and did not score. Harrisburg got on the board with a solo homer in the fifth. Gutierrez came out after five innings; Kyle Waldrop pitched a perfect sixth and Jose Lugo a perfect seventh, but in the eighth Lugo gave up a leadoff single and was replaced by Alex Burnett. The Senators promptly got a single, a double, and a walk, making the score 3-2 and loading the bases. A pair of outs tied the score, and a double put Harrisburg on top 5-3. Roberts, Tosoni, and Robbins each had two hits. Gutierrez gave up a run on two hits and no walks. Burnett took the loss. Frank Mata pitched 1.1 scoreless innings.

Thursday

New Britain scored seven in the second and defeated Harrisburg 8-5.  With one out in the second, Juan Portes walked and Matt Moses homered.  Yancarlos Ortiz and Danny Lehmann then singled, and Brandon Roberts was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Rene Tosoni unloaded them with a double, and Brian Dinkelman hit a two-run homer to put the Rock Cats ahead 7-0.  Three singles, a double, and a ground out put the Senators back into the game 7-3 in the fourth.  Tosoni manufactured a run in the seventh, getting a double, taking third on a wild pitch, and scoring on a ground out.  Harrisburg scored two in the ninth, but Anthony Slama came in to retire all three men he faced to end the game.  Tosoni had two hits and drove in three.  Ryan Mullins was the winner, giving up three runs on seven hits and no walks in six innings.  Slama got the save.

Friday

Rained out--will be made up as part of a doubleheader July 8.

Saturday

The bats were silent this day, as New Britain managed only four hits in losing to the Connecticut Defenders 3-0 in New Britain.  Brett Pill hit a solo homer in the first to put Connecticut ahead 1-0.  No runners got past first again for either team until the fifth, when the Rock Cats got a walk and a single with two out, but did not score.  In the seventh, a double and a single put the Defenders up 2-0.  New Britain again tried to rally with two out in the seventh, getting an error, a hit batsman, and a walk, but again the rally failed to produce a run.  A single, a hit batsman, and a double gave Connecticut a third run in the eighth, and that was that.  No Rock Cat had more than one hit, and all the hits were singles.  Cole Devries took the loss despite giving up only two runs on six hits in seven innings.  Alex Burnett pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.

Sunday

The Rock Cats could only score in one inning, and it wasn't enough as they fell to Connecticut 4-3.  New Britain got a leadoff double in the first and put two on in the third, but there was no scoring until the fifth, when the Defenders put two singles around a double to go ahead 1-0.  Connecticut made it 3-0 in the sixth on a homer, a double, and a single.  In the bottom of the sixth, Rene Tosoni doubled, Erik Lis walked, and Juan Portes singled to cut the lead to 3-1.  An error loaded the bases, Daniel Berg walked to drive in a run, and Danny Lehmann singled to tie the score.  In the eighth, a double, a ground out, and a squeeze bunt brought home the game-winner for the Defenders.  The Rock Cats got two on with two out in the bottom of the ninth, but a ground out ended the game.  Tosoni had three hits and Brian Dinkelman had two.  Matthew Fox pitched 5.1 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits.  Kyle Waldrop had a scoreless 1.2 innings.  Anthony Slama took the loss.

Monday

A four-run first was all Connecticut really needed as the Defenders defeated New Britain 6-3.  Connecticut put together six singles, including two infield hits, to score the four first-inning runs.  The Rock Cats put runners on second and third in the second and fourth, but the next run was scored by the Defenders in the top of the fifth on three singles.  New Britain finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth, when an error and singles by Whitney Robbins and Brian Dinkelman put the Rock Cats on the board.  The Defenders got a double and a single in the sixth to go back up by five.  In the bottom of the sixth, Allan de San Miguel walked, Brandon Roberts singled, and Whitney Robbins and Erik Lis delivered RBI singles to make the score 6-3, but that was as close as New Britain would come, and they never mounted another serious challenge.  Robbins had three hits and Lis and Dinkelman had two each.  Carlos Gutierrez took the loss, giving up five runs on ten hits in four innings.  Kyle Waldrop and Jose Lugo each pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, and Frank Mata pitched a scoreless two-thirds of an inning.

Tuesday

The first inning was again the key, as the Rock Cats scored seven in the first to defeat the Portland Sea Dogs 9-5 in Portland.  New Britain needed only two hits to score their seven first-inning runs.  Brandon Roberts and Toby Gardenhire walked, and Rene Tosoni was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Whitney Robbins walked to bring in the first run, and Daniel Berg hit a bases-clearing double to make the score 4-0.  Following a walk to Brian Dinkelman, Erik Lis hit a three-run homer to put the Rock Cats ahead 7-0.  Portland scored three in the bottom of the first in a similar fashion:  two walks preceded a three-run homer to make the score 7-3.  The Sea Dogs loaded the bases with two out in the third, but the next runs were scored in the fourth, when Gardenhire singled and Tosoni homered to increase the lead to 9-3.  The lead was cut to 9-5 in the seventh when Portland got a double and a homer, but those were the last hits the Sea Dogs would get.  Gardenhire, Tosoni, and Juan Portes each had two hits, with Lis and Berg each driving in three runs.  Ryan Mullins got the win, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks and striking out eight in six innings.  Alex Burnett and Anthony Slama each pitched a scoreless inning of relief.

Statistical notes:  The Rock Cats are second in runs, tied for third in doubles, third in triples, and tied for fifth in home runs.  They are sixth in walks and eleventh in stolen bases.  The Rock Cats are first in OBP, third in SLG, tied for first in AVG, and second in OPS.

Rock Cats pitchers are eighth in ERA, tied for ninth in fewest hits allowed, tied for sixth in fewest home runs allowed, and fourth in fewest walks allowed.  They are fourth in strikeouts and eighth in WHIP.

Danny Valencia is tied for third in triples (4).  Jose Lugo is first in games (39).  Anthony Slama is second in games (35) and second in saves (15).  Ryan Mullins is tied for first in starts (15) and second in strikeouts (73).

Notes:  Jeff Manship has been promoted to Rochester...Rene Tosoni has been selected to appear for the World team in the all-star Futures Game...As expected, Monday's started will be Carlos Gutierrez' last for this season.  He is being moved to the bullpen to prevent him from pitching too many innings this year.  There have been no reports on what the Rock Cats will do to replace both Gutierrez and Manship in the rotation.  They had planned to start Yohan Pino in Manship's spot Friday, but that was not looked at as a permanent solution.