Published: April 23, 2008 11:19 am            

L-Kings break Wizards' spell

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — A night after being stifled to a season-low one run in a 6-1 loss to Fort Wayne, the Clinton LumberKings snapped out of the Wizards curse, scoring five runs in the first two innings and cruised to an 8-3 win Tuesday night.

Engel Beltre went 3-for-5 with three RBI, and Miguel Alfonzo scored a season-high three runs while going 2-for-4 as the LumberKings improved to 4-1 on the current six-game road-trip.

Clinton kept Wizards starter Jeremy McBryde uncomfortable from the get-go. Ian Gac doubled down the left-field line with two outs in the first inning and came home on Tim Smith’s line single to center. The double for Gac extended his team-leading hitting streak to 10 games.

The Kings hung four more runs on McBryde (L, 0-3) in the second inning. Mitch Moreland and Alfonzo each singled, and Carlos Dominguez snapped an 0-for-7 slump with an RBI base hit. Andres James then slashed a two-run double and later scored on a ground-out by Beltre.

The Wizards had a tough time getting on base against starter Jorge Quintero. The right-hander gave up only three hits over 5.1 innings, but one of those hits was a two-run opposite-field home run by Andy Parrino, effectively ending his night. Still, Quintero (W, 2-0) got the win, walking two while striking out four.

Right-hander Daniel Sattler got into some hot water in the seventh, loading the bases on two walks and an infield single by Brad Chalk. With the Kings up 7-3, righty Adalberto Flores was summoned from the pen to face the dangerous Parrino.

After falling behind, Flores was able to get Parrino to ground out to Moreland at first, ending the threat.

Flores (S, 1) struck out two in the ninth and finished with three strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work.

Beltre, Smith, Moreland, Alfonzo and Dominguez all had multi-hit nights for the LumberKings, who fell just two hits short of their single-game season-high.

The LumberKings (12-4) were scheduled to close out the series with Fort Wayne (7-12) this morning at Memorial Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 10 a.m.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.