AUBURN - It was only natural to play afternoon baseball under blue skies and a blazing sun on Hawaiian jersey day at Falcon Park. Unfortunately for the fans who came out in Hawaiian garb of their own on Sunday, their beloved Auburn Doubledays looked like they'd rather be at a luau than playing a baseball game.
Glenn Gaston / Special to The Citizen
The Doubledays' right fielder Cory Patton goes air borne in an attempt to catch a fly ball Sunday at Falcon Park.
The Doubledays' right fielder Cory Patton goes air borne in an attempt to catch a fly ball Sunday at Falcon Park.
The first-place Doubledays dropped their third in a row, losing 9-3 to the Jamestown Jammers. Heading into the all-star break, Auburn has dropped four of six games and isn't playing like a team on top of its division.
"Sometimes it's hard to pinpoint what exactly has changed," Auburn manager Dennis Holmberg said. "We were talking earlier about the Chicago White Sox who have lost something like seven straight. All teams have their streaks. Every club goes through these struggles."
Auburn didn't lose any ground in the Pinckney Division, however. The Batavia Muckdogs pounded Mahoning Valley 19-6 on Sunday. The Doubledays retain a four-game lead.
The Doubledays' recent form is a far cry from their nine-game winning streak from just a week ago. The bullpen has deteriorated, the pitchers are walking too many batters and the hitters are struggling to produce with men on base.
"It seems like we're not having good enough at-bats early on, especially with runners in scoring position," Ryan Patterson said. "That leaves us well behind come the later innings. We try to post that big inning but we're too far down."
Jamestown jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second when Gaby Sanchez ripped a double off Auburn starter Orlando Trias and later scored on a groundout.
The Doubledays tied the game in the bottom of the second off a solo homer by Brian Pettway that sailed over the right field fence.
Early on, the Doubledays looked like they might have turned things around and were beginning to break out of their slump. Manny Sena had one of his two hits on the day, a double, and was driven to the plate on a Patterson stand-up triple, hit to the deepest part of the park in center field.
Joey Metropoulos smoked a double down the left field line to score Patterson and give Auburn an early 3-1 lead.
Trias appeared to be on cruise control for the next few innings, holding the Jammers in check. Everything turned around in the fifth, as Trias made a tremendous play, vaulting off the mound to snare a soft shot by Jamestown's Brett Hayes and rob him of an infield hit. After the diving catch, Trias wasn't the same.
Trias walked the next Jammers' batter and surrendered an RBI triple to Paul Witt, allowing them to edge closer 3-2.
Then, Trias (3-7) imploded in the sixth. In one stretch, he gave up four hits in five at-bats - including a double and a triple. Holmberg brought Josh Sowers in from the bullpen to clean up Trias' mess but he was just as sporadic. Sowers couldn't find his control and surrendered three more hits and two more runs.
In all, the Jammers scored six runs off seven hits in the top of the sixth to take an 8-3 lead.
"It's been the bullpen recently, they haven't come through," Holmberg said. "Sowers has been consistent, but today he couldn't throw strikes. We've been having a tough time with the bullpen guys. They can't get us from the starters to the closer."
Jammers' reliever Todd Doolittle (3-4) pitched four innings and allowed only three Doubledays' hits. The wind was taken out of the Doubledays' by Jamestown's run-scoring barrage in the sixth.
"We had a lead today, but it was a short one," Holmberg said. "One bad inning, that's all it was. When you lose that edge of momentum, things change quickly. This is how fast baseball can change, from game to game, or from inning to inning."
The two-day break comes at a convenient time for the Doubledays. The lay-off will give the players time to relax, rest up and try to come back on Wednesday as a rejuvenated ball club.
"I definitely think after losing three in a row it's a good thing," Patterson said of the break. "It gives the guys an opportunity to focus on other things, not forget about baseball totally, but just go do some other things. Then we can come back with a clean slate after the All-Star game."
On Saturday night, the Doubledays lost 10-7 to the Jammers. after an 83-minute rain delay.
Despite home runs by Patterson and Cory Patton, the Auburn pitching staff couldn't hold the game close enough for the bats to make an impact. Jesse Litsch struggled through his first Doubledays' appearance of the season, throwing 2 2-3 innings and allowing four runs and five hits.
The Auburn bats didn't quit, though, as they battled back from a 7-1 deficit to make the score 7-5 heading into the ninth.
Doubledays' reliever Gabriel Alfaro couldn't hold the score as he surrendered three Jammers' runs in the top of the ninth. Auburn came back to post two runs in the last half inning, but it was too little, too late.
Litsch (0-1) was handed the loss while Aaron Thompson (1-0) got the win for Jamestown.
"Sometimes it's hard to pinpoint what exactly has changed," Auburn manager Dennis Holmberg said. "We were talking earlier about the Chicago White Sox who have lost something like seven straight. All teams have their streaks. Every club goes through these struggles."
Auburn didn't lose any ground in the Pinckney Division, however. The Batavia Muckdogs pounded Mahoning Valley 19-6 on Sunday. The Doubledays retain a four-game lead.
The Doubledays' recent form is a far cry from their nine-game winning streak from just a week ago. The bullpen has deteriorated, the pitchers are walking too many batters and the hitters are struggling to produce with men on base.
"It seems like we're not having good enough at-bats early on, especially with runners in scoring position," Ryan Patterson said. "That leaves us well behind come the later innings. We try to post that big inning but we're too far down."
Jamestown jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second when Gaby Sanchez ripped a double off Auburn starter Orlando Trias and later scored on a groundout.
The Doubledays tied the game in the bottom of the second off a solo homer by Brian Pettway that sailed over the right field fence.
Early on, the Doubledays looked like they might have turned things around and were beginning to break out of their slump. Manny Sena had one of his two hits on the day, a double, and was driven to the plate on a Patterson stand-up triple, hit to the deepest part of the park in center field.
Joey Metropoulos smoked a double down the left field line to score Patterson and give Auburn an early 3-1 lead.
Trias appeared to be on cruise control for the next few innings, holding the Jammers in check. Everything turned around in the fifth, as Trias made a tremendous play, vaulting off the mound to snare a soft shot by Jamestown's Brett Hayes and rob him of an infield hit. After the diving catch, Trias wasn't the same.
Trias walked the next Jammers' batter and surrendered an RBI triple to Paul Witt, allowing them to edge closer 3-2.
Then, Trias (3-7) imploded in the sixth. In one stretch, he gave up four hits in five at-bats - including a double and a triple. Holmberg brought Josh Sowers in from the bullpen to clean up Trias' mess but he was just as sporadic. Sowers couldn't find his control and surrendered three more hits and two more runs.
In all, the Jammers scored six runs off seven hits in the top of the sixth to take an 8-3 lead.
"It's been the bullpen recently, they haven't come through," Holmberg said. "Sowers has been consistent, but today he couldn't throw strikes. We've been having a tough time with the bullpen guys. They can't get us from the starters to the closer."
Jammers' reliever Todd Doolittle (3-4) pitched four innings and allowed only three Doubledays' hits. The wind was taken out of the Doubledays' by Jamestown's run-scoring barrage in the sixth.
"We had a lead today, but it was a short one," Holmberg said. "One bad inning, that's all it was. When you lose that edge of momentum, things change quickly. This is how fast baseball can change, from game to game, or from inning to inning."
The two-day break comes at a convenient time for the Doubledays. The lay-off will give the players time to relax, rest up and try to come back on Wednesday as a rejuvenated ball club.
"I definitely think after losing three in a row it's a good thing," Patterson said of the break. "It gives the guys an opportunity to focus on other things, not forget about baseball totally, but just go do some other things. Then we can come back with a clean slate after the All-Star game."
On Saturday night, the Doubledays lost 10-7 to the Jammers. after an 83-minute rain delay.
Despite home runs by Patterson and Cory Patton, the Auburn pitching staff couldn't hold the game close enough for the bats to make an impact. Jesse Litsch struggled through his first Doubledays' appearance of the season, throwing 2 2-3 innings and allowing four runs and five hits.
The Auburn bats didn't quit, though, as they battled back from a 7-1 deficit to make the score 7-5 heading into the ninth.
Doubledays' reliever Gabriel Alfaro couldn't hold the score as he surrendered three Jammers' runs in the top of the ninth. Auburn came back to post two runs in the last half inning, but it was too little, too late.
Litsch (0-1) was handed the loss while Aaron Thompson (1-0) got the win for Jamestown.
