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| Irving Falu hit his first home run of the season (Photo: Minda Haas / Royal Blues) |
Boy did they – nine total.
The Chasers hit five and the Albuquerque Isotopes hit four. Kila Ka’aihue, Lorenzo Cain, Johnny Giavotella, Mike Aviles and Irving Falu each homered in front of 6,516 fans, enroot to an 18-13 win.
The big inning of the night was the bottom of the sixth, which began with Omaha trailing 12-8. The Chasers sent 12 men to the plate in the frame, with Aviles getting things started with a one out solo homer, his eighth long ball in 19 games with the Chasers. Eight batters later, No. 9 hitter Falu – without a home run to his credit all season – belted a three-run blast onto the right field berm to make it 16-12 Omaha.
The 18 runs, five homers and eight-run inning were all season highs for the Chasers, as were the 10 walks the Omaha pitching staff allowed. Starter Vin Mazzaro came away with a no-decision, despite allowing eight runs on eight hits with six walks in four-plus innings.
The game was so wild that the winning pitcher turned out to be Kevin Pucetas (5-4), who entered the game with an 8-6 lead and threw his final pitch with a 12-8 deficit. Robinson Tejeda and Brandon Sisk eventually put an end to the madness, striking out six batters without allowing a hit over the final 2.1 innings.
Early on, there was little indication the Chasers would stand a chance in this one. Eugenio Velez doubled to lead off the game. After an RBI single by Jerry Sands and a walk to J.D. Closser, prized Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Trayvon Robinson took Mazzaro deep to left, making it 4-0 Isotopes just five batters into the game. Robinson would later add a two-run blast, his 20th of the year, while Justin Sellers and Jamie Hoffman got into the act with long balls as well.
The numbers put up in the ballgame were spectacular up and down the stat sheet, including three separate 8-0 runs by the two teams. Omaha scored eight straight to go from down 4-0 to up 8-4, Albuquerque answered with eight unanswered to make it 12-8 and the Chasers scored eight more to make it 16-12.
In addition, each member of the Chasers lineup collected at least one hit and scored at least one run. Closser was the only hitless member of either team, a fact punctuated when the catcher snapped his bat over his knee following a ninth-inning strikeout.
Finally, with Omaha having just hosted the College World Series, it’s interesting to note that the nine total home runs hit Thursday equaled the 14-game series total by the collegiate baseball teams.
The Chasers and Isotopes will return to Werner Park Friday night for game two of the four-game series. A pair of lefties will take the hill, with Mike Montgomery (2-4, 5.83) looking to get back to his early season form against big-league veteran Dana Eveland (7-4, 3.86). The two previously squared off back on Opening Night, April 7, when Eveland out-dueled Montgomery in Albuquerque.
