Despite getting outhit, outscored and for the most part outplayed, the Isotopes took two out of three from the bottom-dwelling Cats Wednesday night. The Fish managed only 18 hits in the three-game set, and their 1-2 hitters, Tim Raines and Barry Bonds, combined to go an anemic 3 for 24. But Springfield's top two starters were once again excellent, enabling the Fish to avoid what would have been an embarrassing result.
Bruce Hurst (ARC) and Bob Tewksbury (ISO) got the Game 1 starting assignments for their respective teams, and both were superb, each throwing seven innings of scoreless baseball. The Cats broke through in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Jeff Brantley, Julio Franco spanking a leadoff double and scoring the game's first run on Wally Backman's clutch pinch-hit single. Facing the Cats' Jeff Robinson (0-1, 7.20), Barry Bonds completed the dreaded sombrero to make the first out in the top of the ninth. But Kent Hrbek (.314, 12 RBI) singled, and the little-used Daryl Boston tripled him home. Todd Zeile followed with a sac fly, and just like that, the 'Topes had erased eight innings of futility to take a 2-1 lead into the final frame. Doug Jones worked a perfect ninth to secure his fifth save.
The Cats played angry in Game 2, seemingly taking out a season's worth of frustration on the hapless Fish. They battered Mike Moore for eight hits and six runs in five innings, and then torched Moore's replacement, Bryan Hickerson, for five more. The final score was Antelope River 11, Springfield 3. Juan Samuel ripped his first two homers of the year, driving in six, and teammates Eric Karros and Franco collected two hits and two RBI apiece. Craig Lefferts (1-2) got his first win of the year, in the process lowering his ERA to 2.52.
The Isotopes had planned to rest their other ace, but with the series up for grabs, Curt Schilling got the starting nod in Game 3. He and his opposite number, Tom Candiotti, each allowed a run in the first, but settled down thereafter. In the fifth inning the Fish put together their first and only rally of the series, as Raines, Bonds, Zeile and Spike Owen each hit safely, resulting in three Springfield runs and a 4-1 lead. Schilling was pulled after seven, Mike Perez worked a 1-2-3 eighth, and Jones notched his league-leading sixth save despite giving up a run in the ninth.
The Fish improved to 15-6 but fell out of first place for the first time this season, percentage points behind the 13-5 Zephyrs. The Cats, meanwhile, are unlucky to sit at 3-18. Of some concern for the 'Topes is the depth of their rotation.?Bob Tewksbury and Curt Schilling are a combined 8-1 (1.87 ERA) this season, while the bottom four is a pedestrian 5-4.?
