Pensacola Pelicans Win Third Straight
August 8, 2009
The Pensacola Pelicans extend their lead in first place to two games after defeating the Fort Worth Cats 8-3 on Friday night. Randy Beam earned his eighth win as the Pelicans led from the third inning on.
The Pelicans scored first in the incipient inning, bringing Kevin Reynolds home on a Marcos Rodriguez base hit. The Pels added another run in the inning when Antoin Gray came home on a fielder’s choice hit by Adam Darby.
Fort Worth tied it up in the top of the second. After John Allen walked, Michael Bell hit home run number 11 on the year to even the score at two.
The Cats actually went up by a run in the top of the third, bringing home Chuck Carter on a sacrifice fly.
The Pels added three more runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good. Marcos Rodriguez started the inning with a double, and moved to third when Chase Burch grounded out to second base. Adam Darby walked, and Dallas Christison picked up an RBI on a fielder’s choice, scoring Rodriguez from third. After Lou Palmisano walked to load the bases, catcher’s interference put Luis Guance on first. That forced Darby home, Palmisano to second, and Christison to third. Reynolds followed with a sacrifice fly to score Dallas, and the Pelicans led 5-3.
Pensacola cemented the outcome with a three run sixth. Leandro led off with a single and stole second, coming home on a base knock by Marcos Rodriguez, his second of the night. Rodriguez stole second, and after Burch walked and Christison did the same, Palmisano hit a single that scored both Rodriguez and Burch.
The Pelicans bullpen handled things the rest of the way. Ron Hill allowed one hit while striking out three in the seventh and eighth, and Joey Wedner pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with a strikeout. The Pelicans’ starter, Randy Beam, went six innings allowing three earned runs on four hits, yielding two walks and striking out three.
At the plate, Lou Palmisano walked three times, and his only official at-bat was the two RBI single. Francisco Leandro went 3-3 with two stolen bases, two walks, and a run. Marcos Rodriguez went 3-4 with a double, two RBI, a stolen base, and two runs scored.
The Pels and Cats play again on Saturday, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
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