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Chiefs rough up Zink |
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Monday, 29 June 2009 |
By ERIC BENEVIDES
PAWTUCKET --- The Syracuse Chiefs came out swinging early on Sunday afternoon and quickly had the Pawtucket Red Sox on the ropes.
The Chiefs produced six hits and three runs off knuckleball pitcher Charlie Zink in the first two innings before holding on for a 6-2 triumph that moved them into second place in the I.L. North standings and dropped the PawSox into third.
Zink, who was last season’s International League Pitcher of the Year, settled down after his shaky start and lasted six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks, but his team was unable to back him offensively and his record dipped to 4-7.
“There were a lot of swings and there was a lot of contact,” added PawSox manager Ron Johnson, whose team fell to 40-35, while the Chiefs improved to 40-34, 2½ games behind the first-place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.
“There wasn’t the missed contact -- the popup, the ground ball. (Syracuse) squared some balls up. When Charlie’s in the zone, his pitches have some good movement, but early, I think he was struggling to create that.”
The PawSox also struggled to create a big hit off the Chiefs for most of the afternoon. They collected 11 hits as a team and left nine runners on base, but six of them were in scoring position.
“We had our opportunities,” noted Johnson, whose team came into the game with a league-worst .236 team batting average. “When you get guys on, you have to get a ball in the gap, and we didn’t do that today.”
The Chiefs immediately went to work on Zink, as Jorge Padilla led off with a base hit to left field, Justin Maxwell got beaned in the back of the helmet with a knuckleball, and Corey Patterson and Brad Eldred followed with base hits, Patterson’s line single to left scoring Padilla.
After a visit to the mound by pitching coach Rich Sauveur, Zink got Mike Vento to tap into a 6-4-3 double play, but that allowed Maxwell to trot home with the Chiefs’ second run.
In the second, Zink quickly got a pair of groundouts, but proceeded to give up base hits to Jhonatan Solano and Padilla and walk Maxwell to load the bases for Patterson, who roped a carbon-copy hit of his first-inning single to plate Solano.
The Chiefs increased their lead to 4-0 in the third when Vento led off with a triple into the right-field corner and scored on a sacrifice fly to left by Kory Casto, but Zink came back to allow just a hit and a walk over the next 3 2/3 innings.
The PawSox broke on the board in the fifth off Chiefs starter (and winning pitcher) Garrett Mock, when with one gone, Travis Denker singled to right and sped home on Freddy Guzman’s double into the gap in right-center.
They added their second run in the seventh off reliever Preston Larrison, as Dusty Brown led off with a base hit, and with two gone, Guzman and Jeff Natale belted singles to left to plate Brown and put runners on the corners. But Jason Bergmann relieved Larrison and got the Chiefs out of the inning by getting Bubba Bell to ground out to second.
The PawSox produced another two-out threat in the following inning when Paul McAnulty beat out an infield single, took second on a wild pitch, and went to third on a single by Brown that he lined off Bergmann’s leg, but the Chiefs escaped trouble when Gil Velazquez flew out to left.
The Chiefs then scored their final two runs in the ninth off reliever Randor Bierd, who surrendered a two-out, two-run double to Eldred that he hit into the left-field corner and drove in Maxwell and Patterson.
Guzman and Brown each finished the game with three hits, and Natale also had a multiple-hit afternoon. Guzman is batting .329 (28-for-85) this month, and Brown has nine hits in his last 23 at-bats.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 05 July 2009 )
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Go Tolman Baseball Team. Joshua Amado you Rock!! - Ana Kinsley
Good Luck to NORTHEAST Elite RI @the
BRUTE IMPIRE NATIONALS TOMORROW WE HAVE A LOT OF TALENTED WRESTLERS GOING SO WE WILL HAVE A FEW CHAMPS AND A LOTR OF PLACERS!! GO NORTH EAST ELITE!!! - Dawn Lariviere Go tolman high school go leanna fanning my favorite player
on the team well wishes for your uocoming games. - Shauna Marrow
Saturday night I attended the semi-final girls basketball
game vs Townies Girls team as an aunt of one of the EP players. It was an exciting
all-around game for both teams, and I give credit to my niece and the Townie girls
too for a great season. <br />I just have to say though, that I was
particularly impressed with the talent, poise and unflappable playing style of this
Tolman girls team! It can only speak well of a great coaching staff, and their love
and encouragement of these talented girls. After the game, the low-key humilty that
the Tolman girls displayed, showed real sportsmanship and class. I have a feeling
that this season is the "Year of the Tiger" and hope that they go straight on to
victory in the championship. No matter what the outcome though, they've gained a new
loyal fan in me, and I look forward to following the next seasons with real
interest. This is the way that high school sports should be played! You go Tolman
girls! - Regina Orio
THANK YOU TO THE PAWTUCKET TIMES AND THE WOONSOCKET CALL
FORV THEIR GREAT COVERAGE OF HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING IN YOUR PAPERS IT IS VERY MUCH APPERICATED!! A SPECIAL THANKS TO TERRY NEAU FOR HIS EXCELLENT COVERAGE OF CUMBERLAND CLIPPERS WRESTLING AND FOP ALL THE GREAT PICTURES YOU PUT IN THE CALL THEY ARE AWESOME!!!THANKS AGAIN!!! - Dawn Lariviere
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