Let’s try this again…After a rain out yesterday, the BlueClaws and Power play a pair this afternoon in Charleston, WV, with game one at 5:05. Audio here at 4:50.

Game One
LWD: RHP Justin De Fratus (2-1, 2.03)
WVA: LHP Rudy Owens (9-1, 1.90)

Game Two
LWD: RHP Freddy Ballestas (0-0, 0.00)
WVA: RHP Gabriel Alvarado (4-6, 5.24)

Game One Notes…De Fratus and Owens were both All-Stars this year, though De Fratus earned his spot as a reliever and makes just his second start of the season…Owens has not allowed a run in 26 innings and hasn’t walked a hitter since May 25th, covering 39 innings. He is 9-1 on a team that, outside of those ten Owens decision games, is 20-games under .500.

Game Two Notes…Lakewood is 3-3 in DHs this year, WVA is 7-9, the highest total in the league (tied w/ Delmarva)…Ballestas hasn’t allowed a run yet in two Lakewood appearances (6 innings) and overall in 2009 he’s thrown 8.2 shutout innings.

Young, So What…The BlueClaws are 21-12 on the road this year, the best road record in the league, despite being one of the youngest teams in the SAL.

Back on the Road…Lakewood plays just their 5th and 6th road games since June 7th as they officially open an eight-game road trip with today’s double-header. It’s also Lakewood’s first road game since clinching the SAL Northern Division first-half title in June 18th in Hagerstown.

3:37: Weather should be fine today. It’s cloudy but the tarp is off the field and we expect to be OK the rest of the day. Tommorrow and Tuesday, the weather looks absolutely perfect.

4:55: Getting set to go…follow the game below the fold.

4:56: Ryan Gugel’s first professional start…DH and batting ninth.

5:11: 1-2-3 for Owens in the first…two pop outs and a soft groundout. De Fratus can go 65-70 pitches today, FYI.

5:24: One run, three hits, 21 De Fratus pitches in the first…1-0 Power.

5:46: Four runs on eight hits already…WV gets three in the 2nd, and 6 of their 9 hitters have already picked up a hit in this ballgame…4-0 to the 3rd…Most of the misses have been up in the zone from JDF, and a few hits have been on balls taken down the line the other way by Power hitters…All in support of the league’s best pitcher, Rudy Owens.

6:02: Hey a walk…Owens’ first since May 25th…But Lakewood fails to score as d’Arnaud strikes out with runners on first and second…4-0 to the home 3rd.

6:15: Another run, this one unearned and w/out a hit…De Fratus likely done…3 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 HBP, and 2 Ks. Jordan Ellis ready for the home 4th.

6:34: Ellis gives up two more on a double to Josue Peley…Now 7-0 West Virginia.

6:50: Diekman now in…throws a shutout 5th…but still 7-0. Owens out for WVA.

7:02: Last licks for Lakewood…Owens 5 shutout, now 31 straight scoreless…7-0 WVA.

7:13: Game over…WVA wins 7-1, De Los Santos hit a 7th inning homer for the BlueClaws…Back later for game two.

7:29: Don’t have the lineups yet but Brendan Akashian is catching game two for the BlueClaws.

7:59: 2 in the first for Lakewood, RBI single for d’Arnaud and another for Hamilton, who has now reached base in 28 straight games.

8:22: 2 more…Gose steals his 47th leading to a run as the throw went into center, allowing Garcia to score from third base…Lakewood’s first run of the inning scored by Hanzawa on an RBI single by Gose, who is 14-32 in the second half.

8:48: Ballestas not as dominating tonight but still very sharp…3 Ks and 2 BBs w/ 2 Hs through 3…4-1 Lakewood.

9:00: Troy Hanzawa, HR and then the silent treatment. It’s not like it’s his first pro home run, just first of the year…6-1 behind Ballestas, bottom of the 4th…Gose by the way doubled later in the inning and is now 3-3.

9:21: 6-2, Ballestas out and Simon in, coming to the bottom of the 5th…so no win for Ballestas, that would be Simon’s should the score hold.

9:53: 9-2 to the 7th…Moose Mattair has added a two-run double. Two perfect innings for Jared Simon.

10:18: Game over…9-3 final in game two…Lakewood back to 17 games over at 48-31 with the DH split.

Share This Post!

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 5th, 2009 at 2:37 pm and is filed under 2009 BlueClaws, Live Blogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.