game winning home run knocks off bluefish

Bridgeport, CT – May 28^th – The Bridgeport Bluefish battled back late for the second straight game but fell short to the Newark Bears 4-3.  Ramon Castro hit the game-winning solo home run in the top of the ninth off reliever Chad Bentz to give Newark the victory.  The loss puts the Bluefish at 15-17 on the season.

The Bridgeport bats were quiet all night with just four hits over their first six innings.  Rafael Bergstrom threw his strongest outing since his first start of the season, going seven innings and allowing two runs on six hits with four walks and five strikeouts.  He was on the hook for the loss until his offense came alive in the seventh.  Travis Ezi drove in Shea Harris on his first RBI single as a Bluefish and later scored on a throwing error by Newark catcher John Pachot.

The two teams traded runs in the eighth to keep the game tied.  Randall Simon's RBI single off Bluefish relief pitcher Franklin Perez made the game 3-2, but Alex Prieto answered right back with his own RBI single in the bottom of the inning.  In the end the Bears tacked on that one extra run the Bluefish could not answer when Castro drilled Bentz's pitch over the left field wall.  The Bears infielder finished the game two-for-four with the homer and two runs scored.  J.J. Trujillo worked 1.1 innings in relief for the win despite allowing the tying run to score in the eighth.  Bentz gets the loss with one run on three hits in the ninth.

Bridgeport's Branden Florence and Brian Munhall both had their extensive hit streaks snapped while Jose Herrera and Cory Aldridge of Newark both extended their hitting streaks to 18 games each.  Herrera finished the night three-for-five with a triple, an RBI, a stolen base, and a run.  Harris recorded his second multi-hit game with the Bluefish this season, going two-for-four with a double and a run.

The Bluefish look for a series split in the finale tomorrow night.  Tim Drew will take the mound for Bridgeport to face Matt Sweeney.

Newark Bears vs Bridgeport Bluefish (May 28, 2008)

Box Score

Newark Bears 4 (20-11)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

Brian Burgamy 3b.........  4  0  2  0   1  1  0  1   0

Ramon Castro ss..........  4  2  2  1   1  0  2  3   1

Jose Herrera rf..........  5  1  3  1   0  2  3  0   2

Cory Aldridge lf.........  5  0  1  1   0  2  2  0   0

Keith Reed cf............  4  1  1  0   1  1  3  0   1

Val Majewski 1b..........  3  0  1  0   1  1  7  0   0

Randall Simon dh.........  4  0  1  1   0  0  0  0   5

John Pachot c............  4  0  0  0   0  0  8  1   0

Mike Just 2b.............  4  0  0  0   0  0  2  1   1

Benito Baez p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0

 Cory Willey p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0

 JJ Trujillo p...........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0

 Al Levine p.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0

Totals................... 37  4 11  4   4  7 27  7  10

Bridgeport Bluefish 3 (15-17)

Player                    AB  R  H RBI BB SO PO  A LOB

------------------------------------------------------

Travis Ezi cf............  5  1  2  1   0  1  6  0   0

Henry Mateo 2b...........  5  0  1  0   0  0  0  3   1

Luis Lopez 3b............  5  0  0  0   0  1  0  1   2

Ryan Bear rf.............  3  0  1  0   1  1  3  0   0

Calvin Pickering dh......  2  0  0  0   2  2  0  0   0

 Tim Drew pr.............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0

 Pike, Matt pr...........  0  1  0  0   0  0  0  0   0

Branden Florence lf......  2  0  0  0   0  0  0  0   0

Brian Munhall 1b.........  4  0  0  0   0  0 10  1   3

Alex Prieto ss...........  4  0  1  1   0  0  2  2   2

Shea Harris c............  4  1  2  0   0  2  6  1   1

Rafael Bergstrom p.......  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0

 Franklin Perez p........  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0

 Chad Bentz p............  0  0  0  0   0  0  0  1   0

Totals................... 34  3  7  2   3  7 27 11   9

Score by Innings                    R  H  E

-------------------------------------------

Newark Bears........ 200 000 011 -  4 11  3

Bridgeport Bluefish. 000 000 210 -  3  7  0

-------------------------------------------

E - Castro 2; Pachot. DP - Newark 1. LOB - Newark 10; Bluefish 9. 2B -

Harris. 3B - Herrera. HR - Castro. HBP - Florence. SH - Florence. SB -

Herrera; Reed; Ezi. CS - Burgamy.

Newark Bears           IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF

-----------------------------------------------

Benito Baez.........  5.0  4  0  0  1  5 19 21

Cory Willey.........  1.1  2  2  1  1  1  7  8

JJ Trujillo.........  1.2  1  1  1  1  1  5  7

Al Levine...........  1.0  0  0  0  0  0  3  3

Bridgeport Bluefish    IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF

-----------------------------------------------

Rafael Bergstrom....  7.0  6  2  2  4  5 27 31

Franklin Perez......  1.0  2  1  1  0  1  5  5

Chad Bentz..........  1.0  3  1  1  0  1  5  5

Win - Trujillo (1-1).  Loss - Bentz (1-1).  Save - Levine (9).

WP - Bergstrom; Perez 2. HBP - by Baez (Florence). PB - Pachot.

Umpires - HP: Eric Diaz  1B: Kareh Valentin  3B: Edwin Ortiz

Start: 7:04 PM   Time: 3:02   Attendance: 1386

Play-by-Play

                            The Automated ScoreBook

               Newark Bears at Bridgeport Bluefish - Play-by-Play

                  May 28, 2008 at Bridgeport, CT (Harbor Yard)

Score by Innings                    R  H  E

-------------------------------------------

Newark Bears........ 200 000 011 -  4 11  3

Bridgeport Bluefish. 000 000 210 -  3  7  0

-------------------------------------------

Newark Bears starters: 7/3b Burgamy; 19/ss Castro; 29/rf Herrera; 33/lf

Aldridge; 27/cf Reed; 23/1b Majewski; 35/dh Simon; 30/c Pachot; 20/2b Just;

21/p Baez;

Bridgeport Bluefish starters: 15/cf Ezi; 7/2b Mateo; 19/3b Lopez; 28/rf Bear;

45/dh Pickering; 16/lf Florence; 20/1b Munhall; 3/ss Prieto; 22/c Harris; 43/p

Bergstrom;

Newark Bears 1st - Burgamy flied out to cf. Castro walked. Herrera

tripled to right center, RBI; Castro scored. Aldridge singled through the right

side, RBI; Herrera scored. Aldridge advanced to second on a wild pitch. Reed

walked. Majewski flied out to cf. Simon grounded out to 1b unassisted. 2

runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Bridgeport Bluefish 1st - Ezi struck out swinging. Mateo reached on an

error by ss. Lopez grounded into double play 3b to 2b to 1b; Mateo out on the

play. 0 runs, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.

Newark Bears 2nd - Pachot grounded out to 2b. Just lined out to ss.

Burgamy singled through the right side. Castro flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1

hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Bridgeport Bluefish 2nd - Bear struck out swinging. Pickering walked.

Florence grounded out to p; Pickering advanced to second. Munhall grounded out

to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Newark Bears 3rd - Herrera singled through the right side. Aldridge

struck out swinging; Herrera stole second. Reed popped up to 1b. Majewski

walked. Simon flied out to rf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Bridgeport Bluefish 3rd - Prieto flied out to rf. Harris singled to

right field. Ezi flied out to cf. Mateo popped up to ss. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0

errors, 1 LOB.

Newark Bears 4th - Pachot flied out to cf. Just flied out to rf. Burgamy

walked. Castro singled through the left side; Burgamy advanced to second.

Herrera struck out looking. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Bridgeport Bluefish 4th - Lopez flied out to cf. Bear singled to left

field. Pickering struck out swinging. Florence hit by pitch; Bear advanced to

second. Munhall popped up to 1b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Newark Bears 5th - Aldridge struck out swinging. Reed grounded out to

ss. Majewski singled up the middle. Simon grounded out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit,

0 errors, 1 LOB.

Bridgeport Bluefish 5th - No play. Prieto lined out to ss. Harris struck

out swinging. Ezi singled to left center. Mateo singled to right field; Ezi

advanced to third. Lopez struck out swinging. 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2

LOB.

Newark Bears 6th - Pachot grounded out to 3b. Just flied out to cf.

Burgamy struck out swinging. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Bridgeport Bluefish 6th - Willey to p for Baez. Bear walked. Pickering

struck out swinging. Florence reached on a fielder's choice; Bear advanced to

second on an error by ss. Munhall reached on a fielder's choice; Florence out

at second ss to 2b; Bear advanced to third. Prieto flied out to rf. 0 runs,

0 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.

Newark Bears 7th - Castro grounded out to ss. Herrera struck out

swinging. Aldridge grounded out to p. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Bridgeport Bluefish 7th - Harris doubled to right center. Harris

advanced to third on a passed ball. Ezi singled to center field, RBI; Harris

scored. Mateo flied out to rf. Trujillo to p for Willey. Ezi stole second,

advanced to third on an error by c, scored, unearned. Lopez grounded out to ss.

Bear flied out to cf. 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.

Newark Bears 8th - Perez to p for Bergstrom. Reed singled up the middle.

Reed stole second. Majewski struck out swinging, out at first c to 1b. Reed

advanced to third on a wild pitch. Simon singled to left field, RBI; Reed

scored. Simon advanced to second on a wild pitch. Pachot out at first p to 2b

to 1b; Simon advanced to third. Just flied out to rf. 1 run, 2 hits, 0

errors, 1 LOB.

Bridgeport Bluefish 8th - Pickering walked. Drew pinch ran for

Pickering. Florence grounded out to c, SAC, bunt; Drew advanced to second.

Munhall fouled out to 1b. Drew advanced to third. Pike pinch ran for Drew.

Prieto singled through the left side, RBI; Pike scored. Harris struck out

looking. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Newark Bears 9th - Bentz to p for Perez. Burgamy singled up the middle.

Burgamy out at second p to 1b to ss, caught stealing. Castro homered to left

field, RBI. Herrera singled up the middle. Aldridge flied out to cf. Reed

struck out swinging. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Bridgeport Bluefish 9th - Levine to p for Trujillo. Ezi fouled out to c.

Mateo flied out to lf. Lopez flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0

LOB.