May 13, 2008 10:55 am
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BELOIT, Wis. — They may not yet be the household names like Bagwell, Berkman and Biggio of the old Houston Astros’ “Killer B’s,” but Ian Gac, Kennil Gomez and Jonathan Greene — the “Killer G’s” — each played starring roles in helping the Clinton LumberKings to a 6-5 win over the Beloit Snappers on Monday night.
Greene went 2-for-3 with a solo homer and a double, scoring a pair of runs, and Gac helped the LumberKings stay on top with a two-run double in the seventh, finishing 2-for-5.
Right-hander Gomez (W, 6-0) became the first Midwest League hurler to reach six wins, tying a career-high with seven strikeouts over five innings. He gave up only two runs, one earned, on three hits.
Shut out in three of their five games at Pohlman Field last year, the LumberKings wasted no time getting on the scoreboard against Snappers starter Santos Arias.
Engel Beltre slapped a leadoff double into left, and after a single by Matt Lawson put runners at the corners, Tim Smith aired out a sacrifice fly down the line in left, sending Beltre home.
Clinton built a 2-0 lead in the second inning thanks to Greene.
He led off the frame, belting an Arias offering over the fence in left-center for his fourth home run of the year.
That wasn’t all for the Kings’ third-baseman, as he followed up with a leadoff double to start the fourth, coming home on a single by Jose Felix to make it 3-0.
Gomez retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, but ran into trouble in the fourth.
A one-out walk to Garrett Olson turned into the first run of the night for Beloit as former Wisconsin Timber Rattler Jair Fernandez scored him on a bloop single to left.
The Snappers touched up Gomez for an unearned run an inning later as Minnesota Twins‚ first-round pick Ben Revere reached on a walk, stole second, moved to third on an error by Lawson and scored on a single by Mark Dolenc.
Gac helped the Kings gain some much-needed breathing room in the seventh, ripping a one-out double off the base of the wall in center to plate both Lawson and Smith.
Even so, a 6-2 lead wasn’t safe.
Beloit got to right-hander Fabio Castillo (H, 2) in the sixth thanks to a solo home run off the bat of Ramon Santana, and cut the Kings’ lead to two runs on a throwing error by right-fielder Mitch Moreland in the eighth.
With right-hander Daniel Sattler on the mound in the ninth, the Snappers kept things interesting.
Joe Benson reached on a Texas League double just inside the right-field line, and Ben Petsch’s infield single off Greene at third put the tying runs aboard.
After Sattler induced Santana into a crucial pop-up for the second out, Beloit caught a break as Felix let a ball get to the backstop, plating Benson.
Now nursing a 6-5 lead, Sattler (S, 2), walked Revere to put the winning run on base.
Finally, he was able to slam the door, dropping a breaking ball over for a called strike three to Dolenc, ending the game.
The victory was Clinton’s first at Pohlman Field since August 21, 2006.
The LumberKings went 0-4 during the 2007 regular season and lost Game 2 of the West Division Championship Series to end the season.
Lawson led all hitters, tying a season-high with three hits (3-for-5). Beltre, Gac, Greene and Felix all had two hits each. With the two-run double, Gac becomes the first hitter in the Midwest League to reach 40 RBI.
Benson recorded two of the seven hits for the Snappers, who saw a five-game winning streak come to an end.
Arias (L, 1-1) took the loss with three earned runs on seven hits over five innings.
The LumberKings (25-8) and Snappers (17-19) continue the series tomorrow night, first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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