Monday, June 6, 2005
W 3-2 (10 innings)
Zebulon, NC --- Cuban native JC Muniz may not know who Homer Simpson is, but Muniz and Homer will forever be connected after Monday night at Five County Stadium.
Batting with the bases loaded and one out in a 2-2 tie in the 10th inning, Muniz was hit in the upper back by Talley Haines' first pitch as the Mudcats (39-18) inexplicably beat the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx 3-2 to seize a 1 1/2 game lead in the Northern Division with 12 games to play.
Muniz came up a heartbeat after Drew Niles nearly won the game, only to have Haines (L, 3-1) catch his line drive hit over his head. Haines inadvertently drilled Muniz to force in Frank Moore, who reached on an infield hit to begin the inning. Following Moore's hit, Jason Hill stroked a single to left, followed by a check-swing single by Jeremy Hermida to fill the bases. Hermida reached as both Haines and third baseman Casey McGhee converged on the grounder, with Haines fielding and turning toward third base, only to see no defender covering.
In the Fox animated sitcom, Simpson wins a league championship in the last of the ninth inning when beaned in the head with the bases loaded. A faced-down Simpson is revered while laying near home plate while his teammates celebrate the title.
Carolina tied the game against Haines in the ninth after Haines walked Chris Bass to start the inning. Haines entered with just one walk over 18 innings pitched. Rex Rundgren bunted Bass to second, who then advanced on a wild pitch and scored on the next pitch, a sacrifice fly by Michael Tucker to left field.
West Tenn (38-20) appeared destined to reclaim first place after scoring two unearned runs against Josh Johnson in the sixth for a 2-1 lead. With two outs, Johnson allowed a double to Brandon Sing, then McGhee hit an easy grounder to Bass at third, but sailed the throw over the head of first baseman Drew Niles for an error to bring Sing in to tie the game 1-1. Buck Coats followed with a double inside the left field line for a 2-1 lead.
Jeremy Hermida, who had three of Carolina's six hits, homered to start the fourth inning against Ricky Nolasco for a 1-0 lead. Nolasco worked six innings, permitting just two hits, fanning nine and walking six. Nolasco walked the bases loaded with one out in the sixth before striking out Bass and Rundgren to end his outing.
Johnson, who has not lost since April 12th, pitched seven innings, yielding six hits, two walks and striking out seven.
Ross Wolf (W, 5-2), who earned the victory in Sunday's 4-2 win, registered his fifth win on Monday night, recording the final two outs of the 10th, stranding the go-ahead run at second base. Kevin Cave pitched two scoreless innings before Matt Yourkin made his Double-A debut in the 10th, surrendering a bunt single to former UNC Tar Heel Adam Greenberg, followed by a sacrifice and intentional walk.
Carolina, 6-1 on its current homestand concludes the series and homestand Tuesday night against the Diamond Jaxx with Yorman Bazardo (4-3, 3.67) starting against Jon Connolly (1-1, 6.30) at 7:15 PM ET.
WEST TENN 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 --- 2 8 1 10
CAROLINA 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 --- 3 6 2 11
WP - Wolf (5-2)
LP - Haines (3-1)
S - None.
HR - Hermida (12)
Time: 3:15
Att: 1,877 |
