Vermont Lake Monsters Top Tri-City ValleyCats in New York-Penn League Action

MLN - THE RAW FEED - www.mlntherawfeed.com – TROY, NY --- Derek Norris broke a 1-1 tie with an RBI single in the top of the ninth as the Vermont Lake Monsters scored three times in the inning for a 4-1 victory over the Tri-City ValleyCats in New York-Penn League action Monday night at Bruno Stadium.

The Lake Monsters have now won five straight games, Vermont’s longest winning streak since winning the final seven games of the 2005 season. The win also moves the Lake Monsters two games over .500 (8-6) for the first time this season.

With the game tied 1-1, Chris Solis was hit by a pitch to start the ninth inning. Newcomer Dani Arias, who joined the Lake Monsters earlier in the day after Jose Lozada was promoted to Hagerstown, was able to advance Solis to second with a sacrifice bunt on a 1-2 pitch.


ADVERTISEMENT After Solis moved to third on a Nick Arata groundout, Norris lined an 0-1 pitch into leftfield for an RBI single to give Vermont a 2-1 lead. The Lake Monsters added a couple of insurance runs on a Jesus Valdez RBI single and an unearned run scoring on a fielding error.

The game had been scoreless until the sixth inning when Steve Souza reached second on a throwing error and scored an unearned run on a Michael Guerrero RBI single for a 1-0 lead. Vermont held the lead until the eighth inning when the ValleyCats scored an unearned run following a two-base throwing error by Arias and a pair of RBI groundouts.

But that would be the only run allowed by four Vermont pitchers on the night as Lake Monster hurlers held their opponent to one run in four of the five games during the winning streak. The Vermont pitching staff has a 1.20 ERA during the winning streak, while the Lake Monsters offense has hit .292 and are averaging 5.6 runs per game.

Lake Monsters starter Will Atwood tossed three scoreless innings, while relievers Julio Figueroa and Casey Whitmer both threw two scoreless frames of their own. David Slovack (1-0) gave up the unearned run in the eighth, but then struckout the side in the ninth inning to pick up the win.

Tyler Moore, who hit a home run in each of Vermont’s previous two games, went 3-for-4 with a double, while Valdez two of the Lake Monsters eight hits. ValleyCat starter Jarred Holloway tossed 4 2/3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts, while Kyle Godfrey (0-1) allowed the three runs in the ninth to take the loss.

Vermont goes for its sixth straight win on Tuesday night as Pat McCoy is scheduled to start for the Lake Monsters at Tri-City beginning at 7:00 pm.

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