Laurel moved back to within a single game of the .500 mark with back
to back 8-2 victories over Deadwood at Briggs Stadium. In the past
twelve the Lynx are 7-5, having won 4 straight, dropping 5 straight,
and are currently are on another mini-run of three wins in a row.
The conditions for game one were similar to those that resulted in
Deadwood-Laurel slugfest of a week ago, with winds blowing out at 35
MPH. Laurel starter Bartolo Colon again pitched briefly but
effectively giving up just one earned run in 3 innings of work. Lynx
manager Floyd Hoerst announced after the game that Colon would
probably skip his next start to have time to fully recover from his
injured jaw. "He has pitched really well since the trade, but he
hasn't been able to throw a lot of pitches. Today he only threw 32
pitches, hopefully it is because of the injury and a few extra days of
rest will help him go at least 5 innings."
Long reliever Julio Santana followed Colon, and turned in one of his
better performances of his erratic season. Santana went 4 1/3
innings, allowed no runs. Phil Vaugn, normally a middle reliever, got
to close out the win. Vaughn allowed one run (Brian McRae's solo home
run in the 9th) in his 1 2/3 inning of work.
Offensively the middle of the order was productive, with the 4-5-6
spots in the order going a combined 8-16 with 3 home runs, 7 RBI's and
5 runs. OF Jacob Brumfield continued to ignore trade rumors, going 3
for 5 and scoring twice. An unexpected performance was turned in by
2B Wilson Delgado, who ended a miserable streak by going 3-4 with a
double and a run scored.
Game two was another 8-2 Laurel victory, behind the solid pitching
performance of starter Armando Reynoso. Reynoso went 7 strong innings
allowing one run on 7 hits while striking out 8. Relievers Don
Getizen and Tris Johnson combined to go the final two innings. As in
game one, Johnson allowed a solo homer in the 9th to Brian McRae.
The offense scored 8 times on 13 hits, with the highlight being SS
Chris Snopek's grand slam HR in the 8th that broke open a close game.
Rookie RF Derrick Gibson drove in a pair of runs in his second major
league game, with a sac fly and an RBI single. 2B Wilson Delgado made
it two strong games in a row, going 4 for 4 with a run, 2 RBI, and a
stolen base.
With the two victories, Laurel closed to within four games of
Cincinnati, who has dropped six straight, for second place behind
Galena. However, the chances for the Lynx winning streak to reach 4
games appear to be slim at best. The team takes it streak to
Cincinnati and will likely face left handers Billy Wagner and Vaughn
Eshelman in the first two games of the series. Laurel has a 4-12
record against LHP so far this season.
