TROY — Tri-City ValleyCats manager Pete Incaviglia wasn’t in the dugout to see his team pick up a rare victory Sunday.
He watched the conclusion of the 6-0 victory over the Sussex County Miners online from his Joseph L. Bruno Stadium office after being ejected in the top of the fifth inning.
Not that he cared about where he was sitting. Incaviglia was just happy to see his team put together an all-around performance in front of 2,023 after having the Frontier League’s worst record through 20 games.
“As long as we win, it doesn’t really matter to me,” Incaviglia said. “It doesn’t matter how it happens, but I’m going to go out there and protect my guys and do right by them every time out.”
Incaviglia was ejected by third base umpire Anthony Inzero after an unusual play in the fifth. With a runner on third, Hiatt threw a pitch to Sussex County’s Aaron Knapp that got past catcher Oscar Campos. Sussex County baserunner Trevin Esquerra broke from third, but Campos corralled the ball and threw to Hiatt covering home. Hiatt tagged Esquerra out.
The pitch was ruled a ball. Incaviglia came out of the dugout to argue that Knapp, who squared to bunt, offered at the pitch and it should have been called a strike.
“It didn’t look like (Knapp) pulled the bat back on the bunt, and (Inzero) kept yelling at me, saying you can’t argue balls and strikes," Incaviglia said. "I kept telling him, I’m not arguing balls and strikes. I’m arguing whether he made a bunt attempt or not. (Inzero) couldn’t differentiate from that.”
ValleyCats starting pitcher Josh Hiatt lasted eight innings and scattered six hits before giving way to reliever Trey Cochran-Gill for the final three outs. Tri-City, which had lost eight of its previous nine games, improved to 5-16.
“We can do it,” Hiatt said. “We’ve just got to continue doing it. It starts with the defense. We played really good defense today, so we’ve just got to do that moving forward and throwing strikes.”
Shortstop Keaton Weisz went 4-for-4, scored twice and had two RBIs. Second baseman Carson Maxwell smacked his team-leading fifth home run for the ValleyCats, who are the midst of a roster overhaul after their poor start.
Incaviglia has cut three players who started the season opener, most recently second baseman and outfielder Brandt Broussard, following the releases of first baseman Francis Martinez and outfielder Avery Tuck. He also released pitcher Nick White, who started Saturday's loss.
“Baseball’s tough, because you build these relationships with your friends and you live with each other,” Weisz said. “It sucks. It’s a part of the game, but I think it kind of lights a fire under everyone’s butt. You know, we have to do our job and if we do our job, that’s all we can do and the rest is up to fate, you know?”
New first baseman Brad Zunica, released last week by the Padres organization, flew in Sunday morning from his home in Sarasota, Fla., and was immediately put into the lineup.
He singled to right on the first pitch he saw in the first inning. He had to leave in the seventh inning following a collision at first with Sussex County baserunner Nilo Rijo on a throw up the line by Tri-City third baseman Juan Silverio. Rijo suffered a broken ankle on the play, according to Miners manager Bobby Jones, and had to be carried through the stands on a stretcher.
Zunica hurt his left thumb on the play and said he would have it examined. The ValleyCats are off Monday before playing host to Sussex County again Tuesday.
“Just a baseball play, like, it is what it is,” Zunica said. “It happened, so you’ve got to move on from it. … It wasn’t the ending I was looking for, but I enjoyed it. Had a couple of good at-bats and love what the team has to offer. Love Pete, love the staff, so I think it’s a good place.”
"complete" - Google News
June 21, 2021 at 06:23AM
https://ift.tt/3xB6vgT
After Incaviglia's ejection, ValleyCats complete shutout win over Sussex County - Times Union
"complete" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Fvz4Dj
https://ift.tt/2YviVIP
No comments:
Post a Comment