Report By Marcelo Figueroa
Scott Lonergan couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning as he was knocked around for six runs by the Yuma Scorpions on Tuesday night at Blair Field. The Fleet lost 6-2, falling to 3-8 in the second half and 23-26 overall.
The Scorpions struck first in the top of the second. Reynaldo Rodriguez hit a one-out single and moved to third on an Ismael Castro base hit. Diover Avila then followed with an infield single to drive in Rodriguez, giving Yuma the early 1-0 lead.
Long Beach didn’t take long to respond. Steve Moss led off the bottom of the second with a double and moved to third on a one-out single from Matt Edgecombe. Andy Bouchie hit a sac fly to right field to tie the game up at 1-1 at the end of two innings of play.
In the top of the third, a couple of two-out back-to-back singles from Carlos Arroyo and Villalobos came back to haunt the Fleet when Rodriguez hit a three-run homerun to reclaim the lead for Yuma at 4-1.
The Scorpions would extend their lead in the top of the fourth. Avila led off the inning with a walk and an out later Carlos Pupo doubled to drive him in. Deivis Rivadeneira then singled to bring in Pupo, knocking out the starter Lonergan, pushing the lead to 6-1.
Scott Watson pitched terrifically in relief of Lonergan, going four plus innings of work, allowing just four hits while striking out four to keep the game at 6-1 at the end of the top of the eighth.
The Armada would get a run back in the home half of the eighth. Josh Womack led off the inning with a base hit before stealing second wit one out. Omar Bramasco singled to bring in the speedy Womack from second to cut the deficit to 6-2.
A bright spot for the Fleet was newly acquired pitcher Chase Baran, who retired the Scorpions in order in the top of the ninth in his first appearance for Long Beach.
Long Beach tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs Daryl Jones singled to keep the Armada alive. Asif Shah then sliced a double down the third base line to drive in Jones, cutting the Scorpions lead to 6-3.
Ortiz came out for the bottom of the ninth and recorded the first two outs before his night was over. His final line on the night was 8.2 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 2 BB, and 4 Ks. Emiliano Fruto came in for Yuma to retire Womack for the final out of the night, giving the Scorpions the 6-3 win.
Wednesday will be a day game at the ball park when Dustin Gober toes the rubber for the Fleet for a 12:05pm start.