The Citizen
AUBURN - For the second straight day, it took just one crack of the bat for the Auburn Doubledays to win the game. But unlike Saturday's 10-inning nail-biter, the winning hit came in the sixth inning and the Doubledays didn't need another runner on base to get the victory over Hudson Valley.
With two outs, Auburn first baseman Manny Rodriguez creamed the first pitch thrown by Jason Ragan over the right field wall. The solo home run pushed the Doubledays into an eventual 2-1 win on Sunday.
“It was a good one,” Rodriguez said. “I had been having a problem hitting the last few games, but today, I guess I found one. It was a high changeup and I just said, 'This is my pitch' and I hit the ball.”
Actually, the Panama native found three, in as many at-bats, including a double in the fourth inning. The homer was his fourth of the season to tie him with Victor Santana and Adam Calderone for the team's lead.
“I hadn't hit a home run (since July 1), it was awesome,” Rodriguez said. “The pitcher was a good one, he had a nasty changeup and he threw the ball everywhere. It was hard for us to get a hit, but when he made a mistake, I took advantage of it.”
Rodriguez was the only multiple hitter for the Doubledays, who got out-hit 9-4.
Catcher JP Arencibia's double in the first inning scored Santana to give the Doubledays their first early lead of the series. Auburn's struggles at the plate fell on the shoulders of Ragan, who allowed all four hits, but spread out five strikeouts and didn't walk anyone in seven innings of work. The Doubledays were retired in order in five of eight innings.
“Their starter threw a heck of a ballgame,” Doubledays manager Dennis Holmberg said.
The Doubledays, meanwhile, patched together five pitchers from their thinning bullpen. With four hurlers on the disabled list, recently retired Shane Benson and standout reliever Ron Lowe called up to Lansing, Auburn started Javier Nieves (2-0) for the first time. Nieves had strung together several good outings lately, not allowing a run over the last 10 1-3 innings. He kept his 2.84 ERA in tact after walking one and allowing two hits, but no runs in three innings on the mound.
Adam Rogers was up next, going two innings and striking out three, but sprinkling in four hits, including an RBI single in the fourth, hit by Henry Wrigley.
The next two defensive outings for Auburn featured Cody Crowell, who got his third win of the season after allowing just one hit and striking out three. Noah Tritz lasted just one-third of the eighth inning after walking Ian Paxton and hitting Shawn O'Malley with one out. Joe Wice came in to relieve Tritz and got the save, finishing out with two walks, three strikeouts and a hit.
“We had to match up five guys out of the bullpen,” Holmberg said. “We had to spot start Javier and everybody did a pretty good job. I would have liked to have seen Tritz be a little more competitive in that one inning. Wice had to suck up two hard innings, he came in first and second with one out an then he had to work out of a runner on first and second with one out jam. He really rose to the occasion tonight. Crowell did a nice job in the win, but sometimes we just throw too many pitches in these games. Maybe we give the opposing hitters too much credit, (Hudson Valley) is a first-ball, fastball swinging ball club, but that doesn't mean that you don't go out there and trust your stuff.”
The Doubledays defense also played a monumental part in the win. The cast of pitchers did a great job of getting out of some jams, but so did the other eight players on the field. They committed just one inconsequential error in the fourth after the run had scored, but 15 Renegades were stranded on base. In six innings, two or more runners were left on, including all of them in a bases loaded situation in the fifth that ended with a Rogers strikeout of Michael McCormick.
“We were playing the guys at the right place at the right time,” Holmberg said. “That's the opposing manager's tough pill to swallow and we've all been there before. We've played ballgames where we've left 12 or 13 guys on base. The bottom line is that it was a well played ball game.”
After a much needed day off today, the Doubledays (19-14) embark on another six-game road trip, beginning at Tri-City (11-20) on Tuesday before playing at State College (16-16) for the first time on Friday. Auburn currently holds a 2.5 game lead over the Spikes for the lead in the Pinckney Division.
“I don't know if we're doing anything spectacular,” Holmberg said. “We seem to be doing just enough to win ballgames. Pitching wins ballgames and defense wins ballgames - that's quite obvious. I think our pitching is good enough to win and our defense is first or second in the league. Our offense is also up there in runs scored, so somehow, some way, we're doing enough to win games. For now, everything is good.”
D-days Today
Record: 19-14
Standings: First place
Streak: 2 wins
With two outs, Auburn first baseman Manny Rodriguez creamed the first pitch thrown by Jason Ragan over the right field wall. The solo home run pushed the Doubledays into an eventual 2-1 win on Sunday.
“It was a good one,” Rodriguez said. “I had been having a problem hitting the last few games, but today, I guess I found one. It was a high changeup and I just said, 'This is my pitch' and I hit the ball.”
Actually, the Panama native found three, in as many at-bats, including a double in the fourth inning. The homer was his fourth of the season to tie him with Victor Santana and Adam Calderone for the team's lead.
“I hadn't hit a home run (since July 1), it was awesome,” Rodriguez said. “The pitcher was a good one, he had a nasty changeup and he threw the ball everywhere. It was hard for us to get a hit, but when he made a mistake, I took advantage of it.”
Rodriguez was the only multiple hitter for the Doubledays, who got out-hit 9-4.
Catcher JP Arencibia's double in the first inning scored Santana to give the Doubledays their first early lead of the series. Auburn's struggles at the plate fell on the shoulders of Ragan, who allowed all four hits, but spread out five strikeouts and didn't walk anyone in seven innings of work. The Doubledays were retired in order in five of eight innings.
“Their starter threw a heck of a ballgame,” Doubledays manager Dennis Holmberg said.
The Doubledays, meanwhile, patched together five pitchers from their thinning bullpen. With four hurlers on the disabled list, recently retired Shane Benson and standout reliever Ron Lowe called up to Lansing, Auburn started Javier Nieves (2-0) for the first time. Nieves had strung together several good outings lately, not allowing a run over the last 10 1-3 innings. He kept his 2.84 ERA in tact after walking one and allowing two hits, but no runs in three innings on the mound.
Adam Rogers was up next, going two innings and striking out three, but sprinkling in four hits, including an RBI single in the fourth, hit by Henry Wrigley.
The next two defensive outings for Auburn featured Cody Crowell, who got his third win of the season after allowing just one hit and striking out three. Noah Tritz lasted just one-third of the eighth inning after walking Ian Paxton and hitting Shawn O'Malley with one out. Joe Wice came in to relieve Tritz and got the save, finishing out with two walks, three strikeouts and a hit.
“We had to match up five guys out of the bullpen,” Holmberg said. “We had to spot start Javier and everybody did a pretty good job. I would have liked to have seen Tritz be a little more competitive in that one inning. Wice had to suck up two hard innings, he came in first and second with one out an then he had to work out of a runner on first and second with one out jam. He really rose to the occasion tonight. Crowell did a nice job in the win, but sometimes we just throw too many pitches in these games. Maybe we give the opposing hitters too much credit, (Hudson Valley) is a first-ball, fastball swinging ball club, but that doesn't mean that you don't go out there and trust your stuff.”
The Doubledays defense also played a monumental part in the win. The cast of pitchers did a great job of getting out of some jams, but so did the other eight players on the field. They committed just one inconsequential error in the fourth after the run had scored, but 15 Renegades were stranded on base. In six innings, two or more runners were left on, including all of them in a bases loaded situation in the fifth that ended with a Rogers strikeout of Michael McCormick.
“We were playing the guys at the right place at the right time,” Holmberg said. “That's the opposing manager's tough pill to swallow and we've all been there before. We've played ballgames where we've left 12 or 13 guys on base. The bottom line is that it was a well played ball game.”
After a much needed day off today, the Doubledays (19-14) embark on another six-game road trip, beginning at Tri-City (11-20) on Tuesday before playing at State College (16-16) for the first time on Friday. Auburn currently holds a 2.5 game lead over the Spikes for the lead in the Pinckney Division.
“I don't know if we're doing anything spectacular,” Holmberg said. “We seem to be doing just enough to win ballgames. Pitching wins ballgames and defense wins ballgames - that's quite obvious. I think our pitching is good enough to win and our defense is first or second in the league. Our offense is also up there in runs scored, so somehow, some way, we're doing enough to win games. For now, everything is good.”
D-days Today
Record: 19-14
Standings: First place
Streak: 2 wins
Citizen
Hot Jobs
New! Off the Menu
The Citizens' Say
Post your comment - click hereThere are No comments posted.