Syracuse blanks IronPigs on two hits

FROM THE MORNING CALL

Syracuse center fielder Michael Martinez might have been the happiest person in Coca-Cola Park Wednesday night when the IronPigs' Paul Hoover lined a one-out double just inside the left-field foul line in the eighth inning.

Until Hoover's double, Lehigh Valley's only hit off Shairon Martis came in the third inning when Martinez lost a ball in the twilight. By the time Martinez could find it, Brian Mazone's drive was heading over his head for a one-out double.

Martinez made up for the misplay a few moments later by running down Greg Dobbs' fly ball in deep left center to end the inning, and Martis went on to combine with Andrew Kown on a two-hitter in a 5-0 win over the IronPigs before 9,137 fans.

The 23-year-old Martis (8-7), who pitched seven shutout innings in a 9-0 win over the IronPigs on July 8, was coming off one of his worst outings of the year, allowing nine hits and seven earned runs in 4 1/3 innings at Louisville. But he pretty much had his own way against the IronPigs despite walking four in 7 2/3 innings.


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Two of those walks were erased on double plays, and the 23-year-old native of the Netherlands Antilles, who pitched for the Netherlands in the Beijing Olympics and also threw a no-hitter in the 2006 World Baseball Classic as a 19-year-old, also struck out five.

Kown came on after Martis issued a two-out walk to Neil Sellers in the eighth and promptly walked Rich Thompson to load the bases. But Kown got Dobbs to line sharply to second baseman Danny Espinosa, then set the IronPigs (52-79) down in order in the ninth for his first save

Mazone (6-13) is used to not getting run support at times — Wednesday was the 10th time in his league-leading 26 starts that the IronPigs have scored two runs or fewer — but this time had to deal with a first-inning defensive breakdown as well.

After Boomer Whiting beat out a perfect bunt single on the game's first pitch and a single by Espinosa, second baseman Ozzie Chavez couldn't handle catcher Paul Hoover's throw on Brian Bixler's sacrifice bunt, allowing Whiting to score and leaving runners at the corners. Jason Botts followed with a fly ball to medium right-center field, where center fielder Rich Thompson and Dobbs collided while trying to make the catch. Espinosa scored on what was ruled a sacrifice fly and Mazone still had nobody out but runners at second and third.

However, Mazone got Wilson Ramos on a soft liner to Chavez at second, and Dobbs turned a running shoestring catch of Seth Bynum's sinking liner into an inning-ending double play by doubling off Bixler at third.

Pete Orr opened the second with a single but Mazone then retired 12 straight hitters until Espinosa's single off Cody Ransom's glove at third. But Espinosa was picked off, and Mazone retired the next two hitters to end the inning. However, Ramos, obtained by Washington in a trade from Minnesota for closer Matt Capps, opened the seventh with a home run onto the grass in left center, his eighth, to make it 3-0.

Mazone left after the inning allowing six hits and three runs, two earned, with no walks and five strikeouts.

Whiting's speed made it 4-0 in the eighth. After being hit by Oscar Villarreal's first pitch he promptly stole on the next pitch and moved to third on a sacrifice. Then, on a 1-0 count to Bixler, Whiting broke for the plate on a suicide squeeze. Bixler couldn't get his bat on the ball but it also skipped away from Hoover, and Whiting crossed the plate standing up for the first steal of home at Coca-Cola Park this season.

Ramos doubled leading off the ninth and Jamie Burke, who came in as a pinch-runner on when Ramos suffered an apparent leg injury, eventually scored on a groundout.

http://www.mcall.com/sports/baseball/ironpigs/mc-ironpigs-0825-20100825,0,6919199.story