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Snappers pull away from sloppy Kernels
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| Photo by Matthew Hager Chris Brown, left, is congratulated by Trevor Plouffe after scoring the first run in a three-run second inning for Beloit. |
By Matthew Hager
Daily News staff writer
3-run 6th inning breaks game wide open
The difference in Tuesday's 7-3 win by the Beloit Snappers at Pohlman Field was that the Snappers got the breaks when it matters, while the Cedar Rapids Kernels struck out.
Both the Snappers and the Cedar Rapids Kernels had chances to score in a dramatic eighth inning with Beloit leading 4-3. Both teams had the same situation - a runner on third base with only one out. The Snappers got out of their jam behind back-to-back strikeouts by J.P. Martinez, while an error with two outs helped break the game open in the bottom half of the inning.
Cedar Rapids had a great chance to tie it after Drew Toussaint drilled a Martinez pitch to the wall in left-center for a triple. The first batter to have a crack at tying the game for the Kernels was Warner Madrigal, who hit a solo home run in his previous at bat. Martinez and Madrigal battled to a full count before the Beloit reliever struck out Madrigal with a cutter.
"You normally throw your best pitch on 3-and-2," Martinez said. "(The cutter) is probably my best pitch."
The Kernels then helped Beloit break the game open. Trevor Plouffe walked to start the inning. David Winfree then doubled and Plouffe tried to score from first, only to be thrown out at the plate. Winfree advanced to third on the throw home. Then after Mark Zamojc popped out to third, Cedar Rapids had a chance to get out of the inning.
Fortunately for the Snappers, that's when things fell apart for the Kernels. Chris Brown came to the plate and hit a grounder to third baseman Freddy Sandoval but Sandoval bobbled the ball, allowing Brown to reach and Winfree to score to make it 5-3. Two more runs would score in the inning thanks to two singles and another error leftfielder Madrigal. The Snappers ended up scoring three times in the inning with all the runs being unearned.
"We got away with some things in that inning," Beloit manager Kevin Boles said. "They made some mistakes and we were able to capitalize. It felt good to get a little bit of a cushion instead of going into the ninth with a one-run lead."
Martinez finished off the Kernels with a one-two-three ninth.
There was a lot of good pitching news for the Snappers, who snapped Cedar Rapids' five game winning streak. Starter David Shinskie threw four innings of work in his first start since April 9. He was out with an inflamed pitching elbow and had recently seen work in the Beloit bullpen. He allowed two runs Tuesday on six hits and only one of the runs was earned. The only jam he was in was in the first inning when Sean Rodriguez and Nate Sutton opened the game with back-to-back singles. Rodriguez went on to score the Kernels' first run, but a double play helped Shinskie escape further damage.
"It felt good," said Shinksie, who also said he's at 85-90 percent. "I thought I struggled a little bit in the first inning. I gave up some hits, but I found my rhythm the second inning on."
Shinskie had a pitch count of 50. Kevin Culpepper came on in the fifth and he and Martinez combined to go the rest of the way.
Three of Beloit's runs came in the second inning. Brown doubled to lead it off and later scored on a single by Tarrence Patterson. Patterson and Deacon Burns dented the plate on a single by Dwayne White.
But the eighth inning told the story.
"(Martinez) did some pretty good damage control right there," Boles said. "He was leaving some balls up and made some mistakes early on, but then when he needed to when the runner was on third, he bared down."
NOTES: Deacon Burns homered to lead off the fourth and went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs. ... Boles said the coaching staff will talk about bumping up Shinskie's pitch count for his next start. His pitch count in his four relief appearances was 30-35.
The difference in Tuesday's 7-3 win by the Beloit Snappers at Pohlman Field was that the Snappers got the breaks when it matters, while the Cedar Rapids Kernels struck out.
Both the Snappers and the Cedar Rapids Kernels had chances to score in a dramatic eighth inning with Beloit leading 4-3. Both teams had the same situation - a runner on third base with only one out. The Snappers got out of their jam behind back-to-back strikeouts by J.P. Martinez, while an error with two outs helped break the game open in the bottom half of the inning.
Cedar Rapids had a great chance to tie it after Drew Toussaint drilled a Martinez pitch to the wall in left-center for a triple. The first batter to have a crack at tying the game for the Kernels was Warner Madrigal, who hit a solo home run in his previous at bat. Martinez and Madrigal battled to a full count before the Beloit reliever struck out Madrigal with a cutter.
"You normally throw your best pitch on 3-and-2," Martinez said. "(The cutter) is probably my best pitch."
The Kernels then helped Beloit break the game open. Trevor Plouffe walked to start the inning. David Winfree then doubled and Plouffe tried to score from first, only to be thrown out at the plate. Winfree advanced to third on the throw home. Then after Mark Zamojc popped out to third, Cedar Rapids had a chance to get out of the inning.
Fortunately for the Snappers, that's when things fell apart for the Kernels. Chris Brown came to the plate and hit a grounder to third baseman Freddy Sandoval but Sandoval bobbled the ball, allowing Brown to reach and Winfree to score to make it 5-3. Two more runs would score in the inning thanks to two singles and another error leftfielder Madrigal. The Snappers ended up scoring three times in the inning with all the runs being unearned.
"We got away with some things in that inning," Beloit manager Kevin Boles said. "They made some mistakes and we were able to capitalize. It felt good to get a little bit of a cushion instead of going into the ninth with a one-run lead."
Martinez finished off the Kernels with a one-two-three ninth.
There was a lot of good pitching news for the Snappers, who snapped Cedar Rapids' five game winning streak. Starter David Shinskie threw four innings of work in his first start since April 9. He was out with an inflamed pitching elbow and had recently seen work in the Beloit bullpen. He allowed two runs Tuesday on six hits and only one of the runs was earned. The only jam he was in was in the first inning when Sean Rodriguez and Nate Sutton opened the game with back-to-back singles. Rodriguez went on to score the Kernels' first run, but a double play helped Shinskie escape further damage.
"It felt good," said Shinksie, who also said he's at 85-90 percent. "I thought I struggled a little bit in the first inning. I gave up some hits, but I found my rhythm the second inning on."
Shinskie had a pitch count of 50. Kevin Culpepper came on in the fifth and he and Martinez combined to go the rest of the way.
Three of Beloit's runs came in the second inning. Brown doubled to lead it off and later scored on a single by Tarrence Patterson. Patterson and Deacon Burns dented the plate on a single by Dwayne White.
But the eighth inning told the story.
"(Martinez) did some pretty good damage control right there," Boles said. "He was leaving some balls up and made some mistakes early on, but then when he needed to when the runner was on third, he bared down."
NOTES: Deacon Burns homered to lead off the fourth and went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs. ... Boles said the coaching staff will talk about bumping up Shinskie's pitch count for his next start. His pitch count in his four relief appearances was 30-35.
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| Down and out | Knights hold off Vikings |
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