Published: April 27, 2009 09:40 am      

Late-inning rallies sink L’Kings twice

CLINTON — Clinton’s losing streak reached four with a pair of Midwest League baseball losses over the weekend, and about the only relief that could be taken from the games was that the starting pitching remained solid.

Burlington rallied in the final two innings each day to record the victories. The Bees tied Saturday’s game with a run in the eighth inning, then scored twice in the ninth to win 3-1. They scored four times in the eighth inning Sunday to come away with a 6-2 win in a game that was delayed by more than an hour at the start by rain.

Manager Scott Steinmann said it wouldn’t be fair to blame the bullpen entirely for the recent losses.

“We’re not swinging the bats as well as we should,” he said. “That keeps putting pressure on the defense and the pitchers and putting the pitchers in jams all the time.”

The numbers back his assertions. Even though opponents have scored 12 runs in the eighth and ninth innings the past four games, the offense has scored just 10 runs in the 36 innings those games cover. Five of those runs came in an 8-5 loss Thursday at Cedar Rapids.

“If we’re swinging the bats a little better, then the pitchers can be more aggressive,” Steinmann said. “Sometimes that gets to the bullpen a little bit. I still have confidence with the guys. We’re just checking their early mental toughness.”

Saturday, Burlington broke a 1-1 tie with a leadoff walk and back-to-back doubles by Nicholas Francis and David Wood off reliever Blake Nation in the ninth inning.

Saturday’s loss was a bit more frustrating because the Bees scored without the benefit of a hit in the first inning, then took advantage of several Clinton miscues in the four-run eighth.

“We definitely beat ourselves the last couple of days,” Steinmann said. “Today was quite a sloppy game.”

Eric Hosmer started the rally Sunday with a one-out single in the eighth off Ryan Moorer. He went to second base on a wild pitch, then scored the only earned run of the inning on Francis’ single to center field.

Francis, who advanced to second base on the throw home, went to third on another wild pitch, then scored on a fielder’s choice when third baseman Mario Martinez charged a slow, bouncing ball and his throw home glanced off Francis for an error. To compound matters, Moorer, who was backing up the play, made a wild throw to second base after Sean McCauley had stopped and begun retreating to first. A double by Jose Bonilla made it 5-2, and he went to third on a flyout and scored on Antonio Jimenez’s infield hit.

Clinton didn’t help its cause on offense by having one runner thrown out at home, another picked off and four others caught stealing.

Denny Almonte’s eight-game hitting streak also came to an end Sunday. He went 0-for-4.



SATURDAY

Bees 3, LumberKings 1

Burlington Clinton

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Martin 3b 5 0 0 0 Carroll rf 4 1 0 0

Alfaro ss 4 1 0 0 Mendez lf 4 0 1 1

Hosmer 1b 3 0 1 0 Tenbrink 1b 3 0 1 0

Francis rf 5 1 3 1 Almonte cf 4 0 2 0

McCauley dh 4 0 2 0 Svastrano dh 4 0 2 0

VnStrtten dh 0 1 0 0 Martinez 3b 3 0 0 0

Wood dh 1 0 1 1 Fuentes c 4 0 1 0

Perez c 4 0 1 0 Diaz ss 4 0 0 0

Tucker lf 4 0 0 0 Nunez 2b 2 0 0 0

Jimenez 2b 4 0 3 1

Totals 38 3 12 3 Totals 32 1 7 1

Burlington 000 000 012 — 3 12 1

Clinton 001 000 000 — 1 7 1

E — Cota (1), Tenbrink (3). DP — Burlington 1. LOB — Burlington 12; Clinton 7. 2B — McCauley (5), Jimenez (1), Francis (4), Wood (1). 3B — Savastano (1). SB — Jimenez (2), Mendez (6), Carroll (6). CS — Norris (1), Mendez (4). S — Perez.

IP H R ER BB SO

Burlington

Cota 5 3 1 1 2 5

Garcia (W, 1-0) 3 3 0 0 0 3

Bowden (S, 2) 1 1 0 0 0 1

Clinton

Harben 4 6 0 0 2 1

Suriel 31⁄3 3 1 1 0 4

Nation (L, 0-1) 11⁄3 3 2 2 1 2

Hann 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1

WP — Cota. HBP — Martinez (by Cota). U — Luke Hamilton (hp); Charles Billington (b). T — 2:50. Att. — 721.



SUNDAY

Bees 6, LumberKings 2

Burlington Clinton

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Martin 3b 4 1 0 0 Carroll rf 3 1 0 0

Alfaro ss 5 0 1 0 Mendez lf 3 0 0 0

Hosmer 1b 4 1 2 0 Savastano dh 4 0 1 1

Francis rf 5 1 1 1 Almonte cf 4 0 0 0

McCauley c4 1 0 0 Tenbrink 1b 3 1 3 0

Bonilla dh 3 2 1 1 Martinez 3b 3 0 1 0

Wood lf 4 0 1 0 Fuentes c 3 0 0 1

Jimenez 2b 4 0 1 1 Diaz ss 1 0 0 0

Norris cf 4 0 2 1 Serrano ss 1 0 0 0

Nunez 2b 2 0 0 0

Totals 37 6 9 4 Totals 27 2 5 2

Burlington 110 000 040 — 6 9 1

Clinton 110 000 000 — 2 5 4

E — Alfaro (1), Nunez (3), Martinez 2 (3), Moorer (1). DP — Burlington. LOB — Burlington 7; Clinton 2. 2B — Bonilla (2), Savastano (1). SB — Jimenez (3), Carroll (7). CS — Alfaro (1), Tenbrink 2 (2), Nunez (2), Diaz (1).

IP H R ER BB SO

Burlington

Peterson 6 4 2 2 1 2

Bryant (W, 1-0) 3 1 0 0 2 4

Clinton

Kasparek 51⁄3 3 2 1 2 2

J. Jimenez 11⁄3 1 0 0 0 1

Moorer (L, 1-1) 2⁄3 4 4 1 0 1

Hann 2⁄3 1 0 0 0 0

LaFromboise 1 0 0 0 0 0

WP— Kasparek, J. Jimenez, Moorer 2. PB — Fuentes (3). HBP — Carroll (by Peterson); Martin (by Kasparek). U — Charles Billington (hp); Luke Hamilton (b). T — 2:33.