New Orleans wins in walk-off fashion

David Lough was 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs
(File Photo: Lee Warren)

Metairie, LA – It was ugly at Zephyr Field tonight. New Orleans and Omaha combined for eight errors (both teams had four). Two errors in the bottom of the ninth were costly for the Chasers. They set the stage for a game-winning RBI double by New Orleans second baseman Joe Thurston, pushing the Zephyrs past Omaha 7-6.

It looked like the Chasers may be on the road to victory in the top half of the ninth when Irving Falu and Jarrod Dyson pulled off a double steal, and a throwing error on the play by catcher Brad Davis allowed Falu to score, giving Omaha a 6-5 edge. But it wasn’t enough.

Ozzie Martinez doubled with one out in the bottom half of the inning and came around to score the tying run on a Clint Robinson fielding error. Irving Falu followed Robinson’s error with a fielding error of his own at third base. Two hitters later, Thurston delivered his decisive hit past a diving Lorenzo Cain in right field.

Kila Ka'aihue's RBI double in the fourth gave the visitors a 1-0 lead and Cain's lead off long ball in the next inning pushed the Omaha lead to two.

Storm Chasers starter Luis Mendoza held the Zephyrs to one hit through the first six innings before three singles loaded the bases with nobody out in the seventh.

The right-hander retired the next two batters and was one strike away from escaping the jam when he uncorked a wild pitch that, along with a throwing error by catcher Manny Pina, allowed two runs to score. Mendoza was injured trying to cover the plate and was removed from the game after giving up four hits and fanning three over 6.2 innings of work.

Mario Santiago took over and walked Martinez on a wild pitch that scored Mike Cervenak with the go-ahead run, though the New Orleans lead would be short-lived.

David Lough delivered a two-run double in the top half of the eighth to put the Chasers back in front and scored on a throwing error, the third of the inning committed by the hosts, to make it a 5-3 game.

However, New Orleans got the game even in the bottom of the frame on a two-out, two-run single by Cervenak.

Several Chasers had good productive games at the plate:

• David Lough was 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs, which was nice to see. He was 3-for-his-last-17 coming into the game.
• Kila Ka'aihue was 2-for-2 with 1 RBI and 2 BB
• Lorenzo Cain was 2-for-4 with a HR (his 10th) and an RBI

Nashville defeated Memphis tonight 5-4 in Nashville, so Omaha still clings to a half game lead in the PCL American North.

New Orleans and Omaha will play again Tuesday night with Omaha right-hander Vin Mazzaro taking the hill against New Orleans right-hander Adalberto Mendez.