Rock Cats Recap

New Britain is 43-40, second in the EL North, six games behind Connecticut.

Wednesday

Game 1

Three Rock Cats pitchers combined on a two-hitter as New Britain took the first game of the doubleheader over the Portland Sea Dogs 3-1 in Portland. The Rock Cats took a 1-0 lead in the third when Toby Gardenhire singled, took second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a double by Brandon Roberts. In the fourth, Erik Lis doubled, went to third on a ground out, and scored when Juan Portes reached on an error. Portes then scored on singles by Gardenhire and Allan de San Miguel to put New Britain ahead 3-0. Portland got both their hits in the fourth, when they got their only run on a single, a stolen base, and a double. Gardenhire was the only Rock Cat with two hits. Frank Mata made his first start of the year after thirty relief appearances, giving up a run on two hits in 3.2 innings. Jose Lugo pitched 2.1 scoreless innings to get the win, and Anthony Slama had a scoreless seventh for the save.

Game 2

New Britain swept the doubleheader, again winning 3-1.  They scored two in the first inning:  Rene Tosoni doubled, Brian Dinkelman was hit by a pitch, they advanced on a ground out, and both scored on a Whitney Robbins single.  Portland got three singles to start the fourth, loading the bases, but scored only one, on a sacrifice fly, to cut the lead to 2-1.  The Rock Cats got a tw0-0ut insurance run in the seventh when Matt Moses singled and scored on a double by Yancarlos Ortiz.  Tosoni had two hits.  Yohan Pino made his second start of the year and pitched four innings, giving up one run on five hits.  He struck out six.  Kyle Waldrop got the win with 2.2 scoreless innings of relief.  Alex Burnett got the last out to record a save.

Thursday

Rained out

Friday

Game 1

Portland scored two in the fifth to break a 4-all tie and take a 6-4 victory.  The Sea Dogs scored three in the first on a single, an error, another single, and a double.  The Rock Cats bounced right back to tie the score in the second when Juan Portes walked, Toby Gardenhire doubled, Allan de San Miguel walked to load the bases, and Brandon Roberts drove in all three with a double.  Each team scored once in the third to tie the game at four--New Britain got singles by Rene Tosoni and Erik Lis and two ground outs; Portland got a double and a single.  In the fifth, however, the Sea Dogs got what proved to be the winning runs when a double, a single, and a hit batsman loaded the bases, a sacrifice fly scored one, and a single scored another.  The Rock Cats got two on with one out in the sixth, but a fly out and a ground out ended the threat.  Brandon Roberts and Rene Tosoni each had two hits.  Cole Devries took the loss, giving up six runs (three earned) on ten hits in 4.1 innings, striking out five.  Jose Lugo pitched 1.2 scoreless innings of relief.

Game 2

Portland again had a big first inning as they swept New Britain, this time winning 8-5.  The Sea Dogs scored four in the first on a triple, a single, a walk, a single, and a double.  Juan Portes put the Rock Cats on the board in the second with a home run, and singles by Toby Gardenhire and Erik Lis and a Yancarlos Ortiz sacrifice fly made the score 4-2.  New Britain closed to 4-3 in the fourth on doubles by Gardenhire and Lis, but Portland came right back with three in the bottom of the fourth on a double, three walks, and a single.  The Rock Cats kept battling, getting two in the fifth on an error and singles by Brian Dinkelman, Whitney Robbins, and Gardenhire to make the score 7-5, but the Sea Dogs again answered in the bottom of the fifth on a double and a single.  New Britain did not get a hit after the fifth inning.  Gardenhire had three hits and Lis and Dinkelman had two apiece.  Matthew Fox took the loss, giving up seven runs on six hits and six walks in 3.2 innings.  Alex Burnett pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.

Saturday

The Rock Cats again played fourteen innings, but this time it was all in one game as they fell to the Trenton Thunder 7-6 in Trenton.  The Thunder scored a run in the first on a triple, a ground out, and a double play to take a 1-0 lead.  New Britain took a 2-1 lead in the third when Toby Gardenhire and Allan de San Miguel singled, Juan Portes doubled, and Brian Dinkelman hit a sacrifice fly.  They increased the lead to 4-1 in the fifth when de San Miguel walked, Rene Tosoni and Portes singled to load the bases, and an error brought in two runs.  Rock Cats starter Carlos Gutierrez had things under control, but he was removed after five innings, and the bullpen could not hold the lead.  In the sixth, a single, a walk, and a double brought in two runs to make the score 4-3, and Trenton tied it in the seventh on a single and a double.  New Britain appeared to have won the game in the tenth, when Erik Lis doubled, Whitney Robbins singled, and Daniel Berg walked to load the bases.  Yancarlos Ortiz hit a sacrifice fly and Gardenhire laid down a squeeze bunt to score two runs and give the Rock Cats a 6-4 lead.  With two out in the tenth, however, the Thunder got a single and a home run to tie the score at six.  Trenton again put together a two-out rally in the fourteenth, winning the game with a single and a double.  Lis had four hits in the game, with Portes and Dinkelman each contributing two.  Gutierrez gave up a run on only one hit in five innings.  No reliever went unscored upon, but Kyle Waldrop had pitched three scoreless innings of relief before taking the loss in the fourteenth.

Sunday

New Britain broke its three-game losing streak in style, shutting out Trenton 5-0.  The Rock Cats scored without a hit in the first:  Rene Tosoni was hit by a pitch, Toby Gardenhire walked, a sacrifice bunt advanced the runners, and an infield out scored a run.  The lead went to 3-0 in the third on a Danny Lehmann single, an error, and a double by Juan Portes.  Singles by Erik Lis, Yancarlos Ortiz, and Lehmann made the score 4-0 after four, and singles by Brian Dinkelman, Portes, and Whitney Robbins and a walk to Daniel Berg increased it to 5-0 after five.  That was more than enough for New Britain starter Ryan Mullins, who pitched eight shutout innings, giving the Rock Cats bullpen a much-needed rest.  Portes, Robbins, Lis, and Lehmann each had two hits for New Britain.  Mullins got the win, giving up only five hits and striking out eight.  Jose Lugo pitched a scoreless ninth, striking out three.

Monday

The Rock Cats made it two in a row, scoring all their runs early in defeating Trenton 3-1.  They got two in the first when Yancarlos Ortiz singled, Brian Dinkelman walked, Rene Tosoni singled to load the bases, and Juan Portes delievered a two-run single.  In the second, two errors put runners on first and second, and walks to Dinkelman and Tosoni forced in a run to make the score 3-0.  The Thunder threatened in the second, putting runners on first and third with one out, but a line-drive double play ended the threat.  Trenton got on the board in the fifth with a hit batsman and two singles, but left the bases loaded.  Another line-drive double play ended a two-on, one-out threat in the sixth, but then the New Britain bullpen took control, giving up no hits in the last three innings.  Portes had three hits to lead the offense.  Yohan Pino got the win, giving up one run on six hits in 5.1 innings.  Alex Burnett pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, and Anthony Slama had a scoreless ninth to get the save.

Tuesday

New Britain got seven hits, but no runs, as they lost to the Connecticut Defenders 3-0 in New Britain.  Connecticut took the lead in the second when two singles sandwiched a walk.  They made it 3-0 in the sixth on a single, two errors, another single, and a sacrifice fly.  The Rock Cats got at least one runner on in each of the first eight innings, and had two on in the third, sixth, and seventh, but could not score.  They left eleven runners on base and were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.  Yancarlos Ortiz was the only New Britain player with two hits.  Frank Mata took the loss, giving up a run on four hits in five innings.  Jose Lugo pitched two scoreless innings of relief.

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

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

Brian Dinkelman is tied for fifth in the league in doubles (21).  Jose Lugo is first in appearances (44) and tied for fifth in holds (7).  Anthony Slama is second in appearances (38), second in saves (17), and first in games finished (32).  Ryan Mullins is tied for third in starts (16) and tied for second in strikeouts (81).  Rob Delaney is tied for second in holds (9).

Notes:  New Britain will have five representatives to the Eastern League all star game:  Brian Dinkelman, Matt Fox, Whit Robbins, Anthony Slama, and Rene Tosoni...Wilson Ramos, on the disabled list since June 12 with a hamstring injury, has been sent to the Twins' spring-training complex in Ft. Myers to recuperate...The Saturday start is to be Carlos Gutierrez' last of the season, as he goes to the bullpen to limit his innings...Jay Rainville has been placed on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain.  His roster spot has been taken by Deolis Guerra, who has been promoted from Ft. Myers...Luke Hughes, who has been on a rehab assignment with the GCL Twins, will join New Britain rather than return to Rochester.  He appears to have been passed by Danny Valencia.