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| David Lough was 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs (File photo: Minda Haas / Royal Blues) |
After a 33 minute rain delay in the fifth inning, Omaha manager Mike Jirschele decided to put starting pitcher Vin Mazzaro back on the mound and he gave up a three-run home run to Jermaine Mitchell, the first batter he saw, giving the River Cats a 4-3 lead.
That turned out to be the final score.
Does Jirschele regret putting Mazzaro back on the mound?
“He made one pitch – he didn’t locate it where he wanted to,” Jirschele said after the game. “But he ended getting through that and going another one [inning]. We had to look for him to hopefully get another inning or two and the rain delay wasn’t too long to where he couldn’t come back.
“The rain delay didn’t help us, but you know, you can say it hurt us because he left that pitch up, but he couldn’t have done it that same inning, 30 minutes earlier.”
Sacramento didn’t give Omaha starter Vin Mazzaro time to get comfortable against his former team. Leadoff hitter Jermaine Mitchell tripled to lead off the game and third baseman Josh Donaldson singled him in to give the River Cats a quick 1-0 lead.
The Chasers tied the game in the second inning when Lance Zawadzaki hit into a bases loaded double play, scoring Clint Robinson. An inning later, David Lough blasted a two-run home run to center, giving Omaha a 3-1 lead.
A couple of innings later, the rains came and afterward came the aforementioned three-run home run by Mitchell.
Mazzaro remained in the game through the sixth. He gave up four earned runs on six hits and three walks, while striking out three. Zach Miner pitched around some trouble in the seventh and ninth innings, but he kept the River Cats off the score board. His final line was: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 Ks – and he lowered his ERA to 1.59.
The loss ends the Chasers six game winning streak, and while Jirchele isn’t happy about the loss, he is happy to know his team can stand toe-to-toe with Sacramento – the team with the best record (69-44) in the PCL.
“It just shows that we do have a good team,” Jirschele said. “We’re as good as any other club in this league. We just need to go out and do a little bit better offensively. When we have runners in scoring position – we had a chance tonight [if we would have had a] base hit with bases loaded [in the second inning] and nobody out, but that’s going to happen. We just need to chip away and score some more runs.
“We’ve been playing good ball. Tonight could have went either way. If you look at one pitch – Vinny gives up that home run and we end up losing the game. We could have easily come back. We had enough chances to put some runs on the board. We just didn’t do it. You’ve got to give their pitching credit. They have a real good bullpen – some good arms out there.”
Tyson Ross got the start for Sacramento and tossed four innings, giving up two earned runs (three total). From there, Joey Devine, Justin Souza, Jerry Blevins, and Neil Wagner shut the Chasers down, only giving up three hits over the final five innings.
The series is tied, 1-1, heading into action tomorrow night at Werner Park where Omaha will send Mike Montgomery (4-6, 5.37) to the mound against RHP Graham Godfrey (10-2, 2.64). More about tomorrow’s game in a minute.
After the game Jirschele gave the media a quick update regarding the status of Jarrod Dyson, who is nursing a bruised heel, and Kila Ka’aihue, who has a sore elbow and shoulder. He said Dyson is close to returning to action and Ka’aihue is still a few days away.
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Received this from the Storm Chasers about a big giveaway that will happen tomorrow night:
The Omaha Storm Chasers will greet the 12 millionth fan in franchise history when they pass through the Werner Park gates this weekend, the club announced today. Through Thursday, August 4, a total of 11,999,779 fans have attended 2,786 games since 1969 – just 221 fans shy of the 12 million mark.
The winning fan will be honored with a prize pack valued at more than $2,000, with all items prominently featuring the number 12. The lucky winner will receive two club season tickets for 2012 in section 112, a No. 12 Storm Chasers jersey, 12 autographed baseballs signed by 12 different members of the Storm Chasers, and an on-field recognition ceremony with manager Mike Jirschele (in his 12th season as Omaha manager) and player Irving Falu (who wears number 12).
In addition, once the 12 millionth fan passes through the gates, the Storm Chasers will offer all fans the following deals:
- Club seats in section 112 will be $12 each for the remainder of the season, when purchased in advance online
- All fans will receive a 12 percent discount in the Storm Front gift shop during the 12 minutes following each Storm Chasers game the remainder of the season
- Ovations Food Service at Werner Park will offer four small hot dogs and four small Pepsi fountain drinks for just $12
