Tigers lose fourth straight
Staff Report
Three Oneonta errors helped the Vermont Lake Monsters to two unearned runs and a Tigers rally in the ninth inning fell one run short in a 7-6 New York-Penn League loss Thursday before an announced attendance of 734 at Damaschke Field.
The loss extended the O-Tigers' skid to a season-high four games _ all coming against Vermont (11-9), which swept the four-game series and pulled even with Oneonta (10-8) atop the Stedler Division standings.
Oneonta starts a four-game set against to Tri-City at 7 p.m. tonight at Joe Bruno Stadium. The Tigers then return home to play the ValleyCats at 7 p.m. Saturday before playing their next two games at Tri-City.
Trailing, 7-3, to start the bottom of the ninth Thursday, Chris Sedon walked to lead off against Vermont reliever Jose Pinales.
Jamie Johnson followed with a single to right that sent Sedon to second. Michael Rockett then hit a two-run double to center to make it 7-5.
Steven Stewart relieved Pinales and struck out Wade Gaynor for the first out. Oneonta pulled to 7-6, when Rawley Bishop reached on a fielding error by third baseman Dani Arias that allowed Rockett to score.
But Stewart struck out John Murrian and Alexis Espinoza grounded out to first to end it.
Vermont scored five runs _ four earned _ off O-Tigers starter Luis Sanz (0-2), who lasted six innings.
J.R. Higley hit an RBI double and Sandy Leon scored a run on a sacrifice fly to give the Lake Monsters a 2-0 lead in the second inning. The Lake Monsters doubled their lead in the fourth, when Higley scored a run on a single to right and a throwing error by Sanz on a pickoff attempt plated Arias to make it 4-0.
Back-to-back RBI doubles by Sean Nicol and J.P. Ramirez in the fifth inning extended Vermont's lead to 5-0.
The Tigers got two runs back in the fifth off winning pitcher Graham Hicks (2-1).
Sedon singled to center to start things. After Hicks struck out Johnson and Rockett, Gaynor walked and Bishop was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Murrian then hit a two-run single to left to make it 5-2. Espinoza walked to re-load the bases, but Luis Palacios popped out to catcher Leon to end it.
In the seventh, Vermont scored twice off of Clemente Mendoza.
Shortstop Palacios misplayed Nicol's grounder for an error to start the inning. Ramirez and Adam Amar followed with a triple and a double, respectively, to make it 7-2.
Murrian doubled to start Oneonta's eighth, went to third on a wild pitch by Shane Erb and scored on Espinoza's sacrifice fly to center to make it 7-3.
Rockett and Murrian had three hits and two RBIs apiece, and Espinoza had two hits for Oneonta, which stranded nine runners.
Rockett raised his average to .381, which is second in the NY-Penn behind Brooklyn's Matt Bouchard (.408).
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