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Rosario ignites Isotopes win, 5-2
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Albuquerque outfielder Jovanny Rosario, the unlikeliest power threat on the team, delivered a pinch-hit solo homer to help spur the Albuquerque Isotopes (51-46) to a comeback 5-2 win over the Round Rock Express (43-55) Wednesday night at Dell Diamond.
Infielder Tony Abreu collected a pair of hits, extending his hitting streak to 14 games, second longest on the team this season. Trailing 2-1 in the top of the seventh, Rosario entered the game to hit for starting pitcher Eric Stults hoping to snap a streak in which he had gone 0-for-10 as a pinch-hitter this season. After falling behind in the count 1-2, Rosario hit a laser that cleared the right field fence and tied the game at 2-2.
The blast, Rosario’s first of the season, was just his ninth home run in seven years of professional baseball. Buoyed by the dramatic homer, the Isotopes’ offense pounced on suddenly shell-shocked Express reliever Samuel Gervacio. Abreu immediately followed with a single but was forced out on a grounder to shortstop by Luis Maza, giving Albuquerque a runner on first with one out. Dee Brown dumped a single to left, moving Maza into scoring position for Brett Harper, who smacked a single to right that was misplayed for an error by Reggie Abercrombie, allowing both Maza and Brown to trot home and give the Isotopes a 4-2 lead.
Abreu would help the Isotopes tack on one more insurance run in the eighth, dropping a bloop double over the head of left fielder Brian Bogusevic, who had overrun the ball sprinting toward the left field line, scoring A.J. Ellis from first and extending the advantage to 5-2.
A three run cushion was more than plenty for potent bullpen tandem Hyang-Nam Choi and Scott Strickland, who teamed up to pitch a scoreless eighth and ninth, respectively, to seal the victory. Strickland’s scoreless ninth secured his 20th save of the season, moving the closer into second all by himself in the Pacific Coast League.
The starter Stults (3-1) was just as good as his bullpen counterparts, tossing six innings in which he allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits while walking four and striking out four to earn his third straight win. Stults’s only trouble came in the fourth in a rally facilitated by a pair of Isotopes miscues. J.R. Towles started the frame by lining a sharp grounder that deflected off Abreu’s glove at third before careening into shallow left for a tough two-base error. After Mark Saccomanno drew a walk, Edwin Maysonet dropped a perfect bunt in front of the plate that moved both runners into scoring position with just one out. Chris Johnson was then intentionally walked to load the bases for Abercrombie, who slapped a single to left that squirted through the legs of a charging Brown for an error that allowed not only Towles to trot home but Saccomanno to score as well, pushing Round Rock ahead 2-0.
Stults deftly escaped any further damage, however, intentionally walking Yordany Ramirez to get to pitcher Felipe Paulino, who grounded into a tailor-made inning-ending double-play.
The Isotopes began chipping into the two-run deficit immediately, when Stults, who augmented his solid night on the mound with a pair of hits, slapped a single and scored on a two-out double by Maza to bring Albuquerque to within 2-1.
Albuquerque will wrap up its road trip to Round Rock tomorrow looking for a series win behind right-hander Charlie Haeger (8-6, 4.09), who will take the mound for the Isotopes against Express lefty Polin Trinidad (2-0, 1.66) in a 6:05 PM MT start from Dell Diamond.
After just four days in Round Rock, the Isotopes return home this Friday for the first of a four-game series against the Iowa Cubs, Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
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