Report by the Armada’s Josh Feldman
Jose Lima pitched eight inning in his second start of the year, but closer Koichi Misawa gave up two runs in the ninth inning as the Edmonton Capitals squeaked out a win over the Armada, 3-2, on Tuesday. Long Beach falls to 2-4 on the year while Edmonton improves to 4-2.
Jose Lima got out of the first inning facing just three batters. After walking lead off hitter Marcus Nettles, Lima struck out Gary Harris and catcher Andy Bouchie gunned the ball to second base where Omar Bramasco tagged out Nettles. Daryl Brinkley grounded out to Bramasco at shortstop to end the inning.
Lima allowed seven hits and no earned runs through eight innings while striking out one batter and walking another. He got into a jam in the eighth, but with two outs and runners in scoring position, Joe Jiannetti grounded out to second base to end the inning.
With a tied ballgame going into the ninth inning for the second straight night, once again the Armada bats came through to get ahead of the Caps. Bramasco singled to get on base, and an errant pick-off attempt from Edmonton reliever Aaron Easton allowed Bramasco to nab second base on the error. Casey Garrison delivered the run-scoring double to put Long Beach up, 2-1.
Misawa (0-1) gave up a lead-off double to Jorge Cortes in the ninth inning. Chad Ehrnsberger chopped a grounder back to Misawa, but his throw to third base to catch Cortes was off the mark, and the error allowed Cortes to score, tying the game, 2-2. Kevin House then entered the game as a pinch-runner for Ehrnsberger, who advanced to second base on the Misawa error. Max Poulin sacrifice bunted House over the third, and then the Fleet intentionally walked the bases loaded for a force-out at home. With one out, and the bases loaded, Gary Harris hit a ball into deep center field for the walk-off win.
Easton (1-0) earned the win, pitching two innings, giving up a run off two hits. Capitals starter former Anaheim Angel Lou Pote lasted seven innings, giving up one unearned run off three hits while walking two and striking out three.
Long Beach scored first in the fifth inning. Rookie Matt Edgecombe blasted a ball to the right field wall and stretched the hit into a triple. Two batters later, Bouchie’s ground ball up the middle was bobbled by shortstop Max Poulin, allowing Edgecombe to score from third, giving the Armada a 1-0 lead.
The Caps returned the favor in the sixth inning. Nettles reached on a fielding error by Chad Miller and advanced to second base on a ground out by Gary Harris. Daryl Brinkley’s single to right field scored Nettles to tie the game, 1-1.
The Armada wraps up its three-game series with the Capitals on Wednesday, May 27 at 6:00pm. LHP Ben Fox (0-0) is scheduled to make his second start of the year against the Capitals’ RHP Justin Jordan (0-0) in the final game of the series. The game broadcast can be heard live through www.longbeacharmada.com with the pre-game show starting at 5:45pm.