Walk-off homer dooms Spikes

From CDT staff reports

LOWELL, Mass. — The State College Spikes have developed a major problem.

They are allowing homers at an alarming rate, an issue that led to a loss against Lowell on Wednesday night.

Jeff Natale homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth of a game that started Tuesday and ended Wednesday to lead Lowell to a 4-3 victory over the Spikes at LeLacheur Park. The Spinners also received a solo homer from Ricardo Burgos in the second inning.

The Spikes’ pitching staff, which has a league-high 5.33 ERA, has allowed 12 homers in the past six games. The Spikes are 1-5 during the stretch with their lone victory coming last Saturday against Jamestown. Only Tri-City’s 26 homers allowed ranks higher than the 24 yielded by the Spikes. The Spikes (8-25), who have allowed at least one homer in their past six games, and ValleyCats have the worst records in the 14-team New York-Penn League.

The homer streak against the Spikes will increase if the rains pelting New England halt today. Kade Keowen homered off Ryan Kelly in the second inning of Wednesday’s regularly-scheduled game which was suspended in the fifth because of rain and a power outage at LeLacheur Park. The teams were tied 2-2 when the game was suspended late Wednesday night.

The seven-inning game is scheduled to resume at 6:05 p.m. today followed by the series finale which will be reduced to seven innings. If the rain continues, both games could be lost because the Spikes and Spinners (16-18) play in different divisions and don’t meet again this season.

Natale’s homer produced one of the most disappointing losses of the Spikes’ season. Natale, who’s on a Triple-A rehab assignment for the Boston Red Sox, homered with two outs off Owen Brolsma after the Spikes tied the game on Silvio Pena’s single in the top of the ninth. The Spikes also lost their season opener during a rainy night at Jamestown on the final at-bat. The Spinners, on the other hand, have won six games in their final swing. Pena went 3-for-5 for the Spikes, Ciro Rosero doubled twice and Cole White singled to extend his hitting streak to 17 games. White, who will bat when the suspended game resumes, needs to record a hit today to tie Brian Friday’s team record 18-game hitting streak.

The game will resume with one out in the fifth and Chad Rice standing on second base. Rice singled and scored the tying run in the game that ended Wednesday. Hunter Strickland allowed five hits and one run in five innings to earn the win for the Spinners. Natale, who broke his arm earlier this season, went 3-for-5 and added a double while Lowell catcher Tim Federowicz went 3-for-3.

Spikes starter Maurice Bankston allowed three hits and two runs in 3 2/3 innings, Wilson Ortiz allowed four hits and one run in the next 3 1/3 and Michael Williams struck out two and tossed a scoreless eighth. Williams, a 45th-round draft pick from Division II champion Mount Olive (N.C.) College, was pitching for the first time since June 27.