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05/28/2007 8:16 PM ET
Bees Avoid Sweep, Shutout LumberKings
By Randy Wehofer / Burlington Bees
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 Jeremy Jirschele's two-run homer in the 9th inning capped the scoring in the Bees' victory at Clinton on Monday. (John Larson)
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Clinton, IA (May 28, 2007) - The Burlington Bees (20-28) avoided a sweep and pitched their Midwest League-best seventh shutout of the year in a 3-0 victory over the Clinton LumberKings (30-18) at Alliant Energy Field this afternoon. The win snaps an overall streak of four straight losses against Clinton for the Bees.
The game was scoreless through the first seven innings today. Bees' starter Mario Santiago worked through six innings and allowed just two hits and two walks while striking out four. He worked out of one jam in the fifth inning. A walk and an error put runners on first and second with no outs and a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third. The Bees pulled the infield in and Kevin Gossage hit a ground ball to shortstop. Marcus Lemon broke for the plate on contact and Jeff Bianchi threw him out at the plate for the second out. Santiago then got Craig Gentry to ground out to end the inning.
Clinton starter Zach Phillips was equally tough. He worked through seven innings and allowed just five hits and one walk while striking out four. The Bees should've scored in the fifth inning. With two outs, Derrick Robinson reached on an infield single and stole second. Kurt Mertins followed with a flare to shallow left-center. Robinson could've scored easily, but he pulled up to coast in from third while Mertins tried to stretch his hit into a double. The LumberKings threw out Mertins at second before Robinson crossed the plate to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.
The Bees broke through in the top of the eighth inning against John Slusarz in relief. O.D. Gonzalez led off with a double to left and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Robinson. Mertins then shot a double down the right field line to bring in Gonzalez and get the Bees on the board. Mertins finished 3-4 in the game to tie his season-high for hits. The Bees then added two insurance runs against Slusarz (0-2) in the ninth. Joe Dickerson led off a grounder that kicked off first baseman Mauro Gomez for a two-base error. Brady Everett moved him to third with a sacrifice bunt. After a popout, Jeremy Jirschele capped off the inning with a two-run blast to left, his second home run of the season.
Matt Campbell (3-2) finished off the final three innings behind Santiago and got the win. He allowed two hits and struck out two. The LumberKings mounted a mild threat in the ninth. With one out, he hit Gomez with a pitch and Lemon singled to bring David Peterson to the plate as the potential tying run. Campbell quickly ended the threat by getting Peterson to hit into a game-ending double play.
The Bees return home to start a four game home-and-home series with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers tomorrow night at 7:00 at Community Field. RH Harold Mozingo (3-5, 4.18) will start for the Bees against LH Tony Butler (0-4, 5.18) for the Rattlers. The gates will open at 6:00 for a 2-for-Tuesday sponsored by The Hawk Eye and 101.7 The Bull.. Fans can bring the coupon from tomorrow's paper and get two general admission tickets for the price of one. There will also be a two-for-one sandwich special in the concession stand during the game. The game will be broadcast live on KBUR AM 1490 and KBKB AM 1360 with the pre-game show starting at 6:40.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.
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