VS ROAD WARRIORS
Cody Harkcom (0-5, 7.07 ERA) vs.
Clayton Andrews (1-3, 8.34 ERA)
The Barnstormers will try to stretch their winning streak to a season-best five games. Andrews has struggled since joining the team late last month. The lefty has allowed 50 baserunners in 22 2/3 innings. Although Harkcom’s ERA is awful, opponents are hitting .279 against him — which isn’t bad.
Pre-game notes:
– The Clipper Effect: There have been 86 homers in 34 games at the Clip (an average of 2.5) compared to 26 in 15 road games (an average of 1.7). The Barnstormers are hitting .279 with a .479 slugging percentage at home and .256 with a .385 slugging percentage on the road.
– The Road Warriors’ three starters in this series — Damien Myers, Cody Harkcom and Darwin Soto — are a combined 0-13 with a 6.04 ERA.
– Vince Blue is in the leadoff spot as the DH tonight. So, apparently, “I have no idea” can be translated into yes.
– Blue’s NOT related to Vida. I asked him how many times he’s been asked that question … he said “About a million” with a smile.
– Lance Burkhart took batting practice today for the first time since he was placed on the inactive list two weeks ago. Burkhart said he hopes to return within a week.
Road Warriors ……………. Lancaster
Travis Ezi, CF ………………………. Vince Blue, DH
David Housel, 3B …………………… Danny Gonzalez, SS
Vito Chiaravalloti, 1B ………………. Jeremy Todd, 1B
Manny Mejia, C …………………….. Jutt Hileman, CF
Omar Garcia, DH ……………………. Dominick Ambrosini, LF
Jason Bryan, RF ……………………. Steve Van Note, 3B
Steven Doetsch, LF ……………….. Chris Van Rossum, RF
Josh Arteaga, 2B …………………… Russ Cleveland, C
Gabe Suarez ………………………… Mike Woods, 2B
Scoring summary:
FINAL: Road Warriors 7, Barnstormers 5
Road Warriors 4th: Garcia’s double scores Chiaravalloti. Bryan’s groundout scores Mejia. Road Warriors lead 2-0.
Stormers 4th: Van Note’s double scores Steve Booker. Road Warriors lead 2-1.
Road Warriors 5th: Garcia’s single scores Ezi. Road Warriors lead 3-1.
Road Warriors 6th: Ezi’s double scores Doetsch and Arteaga. Road Warriors lead 5-1.
Stormers 6th: Todd hits solo home run. Road Warriors lead 5-2.
Road Warriors 7th: Ezi’s single scores Garcia. Road Warriors lead 6-2.
Road Warriors 9th: Doetsch’s single scores Bryan. Road Warriors lead 7-2.
Barnstormers 9th: Van Rossum scores on Housel’s throwing error. Blue’s single scores Cleveland. Hileman’s single scores Woods. Road Warriors win 7-5.
RECORD: 23-27
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Travis Ezi (3-for-6 with a double and three RBIs). Ezi started the season with York before being transferred to the Road Warriors.
WHAT WENT RIGHT: Jeremy Todd smashed his team-leading 12th home run. It was a towering fly ball that landed on the picnic tent.
*Vince Blue made his debut. The outfielder, serving as the DH, went 1-for-5 with an RBI single in the ninth.
*Barry Armitage made his first appearance at home. The reliever allowed one run in 2 1/3 innings. He throws hard and down, like manager Frank Klebe said, and looks like he’ll be an asset in the bullpen.
WHAT WENT WRONG: The Barnstormers’ rally fell short. Trailing 7-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Lancaster scored three times and had the tying runs on base. That’s when Jeremy Deitrick, pinch-hitting for Steve Booker, struck out swinging to end the game. Deitrick actually started the inning as the third-base coach and wasn’t expecting to bat.
“I really wasn’t thinking about it down by five runs,” Deitrick said. “As we were creeping closer, I thought … possibly. Then when I was called in from coaching I knew why. It was to get ready for the at-bat.”
*Once he stepped into the box, Deitrick said he was ready.
“It was 2-2 and I just swung at his pitch,” Deitrick said. “I fouled off the only fastball I saw. He gave me three back-to-back breaking balls. The last one was sharp. I thought it was going to stay up a little bit. It was a little bit lower than I thought.”
*Booker was in the game because Dominick Ambrosini was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the fourth inning. So, with the go-ahead run at the plate in the ninth, Klebe had three options: Booker, Deitrick or newcomer Roberto Mejia. This was the manager’s thinking …
“Deitrick has a chance to maybe hit something out of the ballpark,” Klebe said. “If he gets something fat, he can get hold of one, maybe hit a double in the gap. Mejia is just starting to get his feet wet. I didn’t want to put him in that situation right now. I haven’t seen him hit in a game.”
“Booker can slap the ball around,” Klebe said. “He can get a base hit and all. But we had a chance with Deitrick. If he gets a fastball up and over the plate and he drills one into the short porch in right, we win the ballgame. So that is what I was shooting for in that situation.”
*Clayton Andrews retired. He was a hard worker and always gracious in granting interviews. I wish him the best of luck.
*James Lira will replace Andrews in the rotation. Lira has sparkled in two starts, but putting him in the rotation leaves the bullpen shorthanded from the right side. The Barnstormers have six relievers and four of them are lefties. Still, Lira is a good choice to start.
“That might be the right fit,” Klebe said. “We stretched Lira out twice. He looks like he’s real comfortable starting. He got us two wins, so that’s probably the direction we’re headed.”
*The Barnstormers allowed 17 hits to the Road Warriors as they saw their four-game winning streak snapped. Lancaster trails first-place Camden — which lost to Somerset Monday — by 5½ games with 13 to play.
