Moss blast ends IronPigs losing streak at five

FROM THE MORNING CALL

When asked before Sunday's game with Charlotte what it will take for the IronPigs to break out of the funk they've been in the last 10 days, manager Ryne Sandberg said simply, "Somebody, or somebodies, have to pick us up."

In this game, the somebodies turned out to be Brandon Moss, Brian Bass and even struggling newcomer Justin De Fratus.

With a sixth straight loss staring them in the face, Moss hammered a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the IronPigs to a 5-2 win before 9,515 at Coca-Cola Park.

That's after Bass overcame his customary first-inning blues and held the Knights to two runs over six innings, and De Fratus wiggled out of a two-on, no-out jam in the seventh to keep the IronPigs (44-32) within a run.

Cody Overbeck added an RBI double later in the eighth for an insurance run to seal only the third win in 11 games for the IronPigs, who maintained at least a two-game lead over Scranton in the International League's Northern Division race.

"When Moss's ball went out I think there was a little sigh of relief from everybody," Sandberg said. "It just boosted everybody up."

"You're going to have your winning streaks and your losing streaks, [but] you have to come in every day and expect to win at least, and eventually you get a game like this and hopefully turn things around," Moss said.

Held to four baserunners over the first seven innings after opening the game with three straight hits to produce their first run, the IronPigs strung together three great at-bats to take their first lead in 38 1/2 innings.

Pete Orr began the inning by drawing a walk from Shane Lindsay (2-1), fouling off a 2-2 pitch before completing the walk. Then John Mayberry Jr. fell behind 1-2, fouled off a pitch, and took two pitches out of the zone before muscling a single into right center, sending Orr — who was running on the pitch — to third.

Moss fouled off two pitches, looked at a ball, fouled off another pitch and took another ball to even the count at 2-2.

"I was looking for a heater up the whole time, because I needed to get the ball in the air," Moss said. "A ground-ball's a double play and it's a tie game but we lose a rally, so I was trying to get something up in the air."

He did, hammering his 12th homer onto the concourse in right center to give the IronPigs a 4-2 lead.

"I hate to say, I was really cheating for the heater, and he came inside with the split and it happened to be where the bat was catching up through the zone," Moss said.

Moss said experience was the key to the at-bats in the inning.

"You expect good at-bats in those situations because it's not our first time in those situations," Moss said. "We're not 22 years old; we know you're not going to get a lot of pitches from a guy [Lindsay] throwing a hundred [MPH], so you've got to make the ones you get count."

Michael Schwimer (4-0) picked up the win with two scoreless innings, stranding a two-out runner at second in the eighth, but Bass deserved a better fate.

The veteran right-hander, who lost his last start despite giving up one run over seven innings, continued his first-inning woes by giving up two runs — he has allowed 14 first-inning earned runs over his 15 starts, an 8.40 ERA — but then stranded eight Knights over his six innings, including bases loaded in the fourth.

"After the first he always seems to have more confidence in his pitches and goes after it," Sandberg said. "He did a great job today, and he really wasn't totally pleased with his stuff today. But it was good enough."

De Fratus also survived a rocky start to pitch a scoreless seventh. After hitting the leadoff hitter and walking the second, he struck out Dayan Viciedo, the White Sox's multitalented Cuban defector, and got Lastings Milledge to roll into an inning-ending double play.

"We were looking for a confidence inning for him, and he kept the score within reach," Sandberg said.

"Just like a hitter, that little bloop single can start a fire, maybe this can be the same thing for [De Fratus]," Moss said."He went after their best hitter, got him to strike out, and that's a ton of confidence because he hits everything. Then he gets the double play, so that might be exactly what he needed."