Steven Figueroa was one of three Boulders to bang out three hits as visiting New York bested the New Jersey Jackals,12-8, on Sunday afternoon at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, NJ.
Figueroa knocked in three runs with his hits, one of which was his first home run of the year, a two-run shot in the ninth inning that provided the Boulders with breathing room and a four-run lead at 12-8.
Chris Kwitzer and Govanni Garbella also had three hits apiece and two RBI each for the Boulders, who took the three-game series at two games to one in this high-scoring weekend set. In the three games, the teams combined for 66 runs – 35 from the Boulders – and 87 hits – 46 by New York.
The victory also gave the Boulders a split of their six-game road trip that began with three games in Sussex County.
The Boulders struck quickly in this one, pushing across four runs in the top of the first inning. Kwitzer and Gian Martellini had RBI singles in the frame and Gabriel Garcia knocked in another run with a groundout. A fourth run scored when, on a double steal, Jake MacKenzie raced home from third when Jackals’ catcher Jason Agresti threw wildly to second base.
New Jersey got two back in their half of the first when Alfredo Marte hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the year; but the Boulders answered that two-spot with two runs of their own in the third via a two-run single from Garbella.
The Jackals closed to 6-3 in the fourth when Marte scored on a Dan Wirchansky wild pitch; but, again, the Boulders responded, this time with two runs in the fifth on a Figueroa run-scoring double and a sacrifice fly from David Vinsky, the runs giving New York an 8-3 lead.
New Jersey picked up solo home runs from George Bell, Jr., his fourth of the season, in the fifth inning and Josh Rehwaldt, number six on the year for the lefthanded batter, in the sixth frame that sandwiched an RBI single from the Boulders’ Alphonso Reda in the top of the sixth, the scoring exchange leaving New York with a 9-5 lead.
The Boulders added a solo run in the eighth on an RBI single by Kwitzer to increase their advantage to 10-5.
That insurance run proved important as the Jackals mounted a threat in the eighth inning, pushing across three runs – one on a bases loaded walk to Bell, Jr. and two via a Todd Isaacs single – off New York reliever Luke Burton.
Leo Pineda came on with two outs for the Boulders and Jackals on first and second and struck out Santiago Chirino to end the threat, leaving New Jersey trailing by a pair of runs at 10-8.
In the top of the ninth, Figueroa’s two-run home run pushed the New York lead back to four runs at 12-8.
Dan Wirchansky got the win for New York. He went seven innings and allowed five runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out three as he evened his season record at 1-1.
Pineda tacked on a scoreless ninth to record his second save of the season.
Hayden Shenefield started and was tagged with the loss for the Jackals after allowing eight runs – seven earned – on a dozen hits. He walked one and struck out seven as he dropped to 0-4 on the year.
Tag(s): Home