(OTTAWA, Ontario) – Richard Salazar tossed seven more shutout innings, extending his streak to 20.1 consecutive innings, as the Rockland Boulders defeated Ottawa 5-1 on Tuesday night. The Boulders (48-39) have now won six of their last seven games while the Champions (47-41) had their brief two-game win streak snapped.
The Boulders earned the win with some clutch scoring and dominant pitching. Marcus Nidiffer began the offensive performance with an RBI single in the first before doubling home another run in the third. For the game, Nidiffer went 2-for-4 with two RBI, tying for the game high in hits and runs batted in.
His work alone would have been more than enough for Salazar who retired the last nine batters he faced. The veteran lefty scattered just two hits and walked only three batters, striking out five, en route to his eighth win of the season.
Meanwhile, Steve Borkowski settled down after giving up those two runs. He set down the last five batters he faced in order, while Laetten Gailbraith extended that streak by retiring the first six batters he faced. Rockland added three more runs in the ninth when Devin Harris doubled in Jared Schlehuber. Three batters later, Pat McKenna would drive in two more, making it a 5-0 game.
Ottawa would attempt to make a comeback in their final at-bat as Sebastien Boucher would leadoff with a single against Hector Nelo. He would then come on on Kenny Bryant’s single to prevent the shutout. However, Nelo would go on to induce a double-play from Alexander Malleta before getting Matt Helms to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the game.
The loss was charged to Borkowski (0-1), who allowed two runs on six hits in his six innings of work. Salazar (8-6) has not allowed a run since allowing a two-run homer with two outs in the sixth inning of his start on August 6th in Quebec.
Rockland conclude their series in Ottawa on Wednesday, August 24th with a 7:00pm first pitch. They will return home on Friday, August 26th against Sussex County in the second of a home-and-home series with the Miners.