Memphis wins in extra innings to trim Omaha's lead to three games

Johnny Giavotella was 3-for-7, raising his
average to .390 in the month of July
(File photo: Gage Matthews / Kings of Kauffman)

Memphis, TN – Pete Kozma singled in the game-winning run with one out in the bottom of the 14th inning to finish a five-hour marathon and lift Memphis past Omaha, 6-5, Tuesday night in the second of a four-game series at Auto Zone Park.

The Redbirds rebounded from being no-hit in the series opener to pull within three games of the PCL American North-leading Storm Chasers, who had a three-game win streak snapped.

Mario Santiago stranded two runners in the 12th and 13th innings but could not work himself out of trouble in the 14th. Matt Carpenter, who went 5-for-6, drew a leadoff walk and moved to second base on an Aaron Luna sacrifice bunt. Following an intentional base on balls to Bryan Anderson, the fourth time he walked in the game, Kozma delivered a base hit to left field that brought Carpenter home with the decisive run. Kozma was 2-for-29 without an RBI against the Chasers before coming through with the winning hit.

Omaha opened the scoring in the third inning for a second straight night when Johnny Giavotella singled home Lance Zawadzki, who had tripled with one out. Giavotella picked up three more hits, going 3-for-7, and he raised his average in July to .390, after hitting .398 in June. He is hitting .337 for the season, which ties him for 9th among all hitters in the PCL.

Just like they did in the series opener, the Chasers added to their lead with a pair of runs in the fifth when Lorenzo Cain scored on a wild pitch and Jarrod Dyson singled home Manny Pina with the only hit of the inning. Pina supplied a leadoff long ball in the seventh, his fifth of the season, to increase the lead to 4-0.

Omaha starter Vin Mazzaro kept the Redbirds off the board until Nick Stavinoha blasted a three-run home run with two outs in the seventh. Stavinoha was his final hitter of the game. Mazzaro gave up eight hits, walked two and struck out seven in stretching his streak to 22 consecutive PCL starts without a loss since May 6, 2009.

The Chasers got a run back in the eighth when David Lough scored on a base hit by Kila Ka'aihue, who became just the ninth player in Omaha history to drive in 200 runs. The Redbirds reduced their deficit to 5-4 in the home half of the eighth and tied the game in the bottom of the ninth on a Mark Hamilton sacrifice fly off Jesse Chavez.

The series continues Wednesday with Omaha southpaw Mike Montgomery taking the hill against Memphis right-hander Brian Broderick.