KANNAPOLIS — Not a whole lot went right for the Intimidators Saturday night.
There was, of course, that magnificent catch by left-fielder Derek Wigginton — a tumbling grab that saved two runs in the third inning. And teammate Casey Rogowski provided a two-run triple that tied the score in the sixth.
Aside from that, there was little from a 9-2 Lexington victory worth adding to the Kannapolis highlight reel.
“We were outpitched tonight. We were outhit tonight,” manager Razor Shines said with a post-game shrug. “Things happened. I’m not gonna labor too much over this game. We’re just gonna go to work tomorrow.”
Kannapolis (15-18, 62-40 overall) was limited to three hits and its bullpen failed miserably — yielding seven runs, 10 hits and four walks over the last three innings.
“We played them tough (Friday) but they were the better team today,” said
Rogowski. “We kept it close for most of the game, but they capitalized on our mistakes and we didn’t capitalize on theirs.”
A fourth-inning throwing error by plug-in shortstop Ralph Flores helped Lexington (20-14, 70-34 overall) build a 2-0 lead against Kannapolis starter Heath Phillips.
“At times we didn’t make a play or two,” said Shines. “We didn’t always get the ball where we wanted to.”
Rogowski did. The South Atlantic League’s 10th-leading hitter (.296) was the only Intimidator to solve winning pitcher Rodrigo Rosario (9-4), owner of the league’s third-best ERA (2.04).
“He established the inside part of the plate and he got all of his pitches over,” Rogowski said. “But I was right on him. On the triple he left a fastball inside and I turned on it.”
His drive to the right-center gap delivered Norman Martel and Chris Amador and tied the score 2-2 after six innings. That’s when Phillips was replaced by southpaw Jim Sweeney — the first of three Kannapolis relievers — and, one by one, the wheels came off for the home team.
Lexington took a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh when Paul Lockhart smashed a leadoff triple and scored on Felix Escalona’s two-out bloop single to right.
Then in the eighth things really got messy. After allowing a leadoff walk and John Buck’s sharp base hit to center, Sweeney (7-4) surrendered back-to-back RBI-singles to Ramon German and Lockhart and found himself staring at a 5-2 deficit. He was yanked having retired three batters and allowing five runs.
“Well, you know, that happens,” said Shines. “He pitched two innings the other day and struck out three without allowing a hit. But he had to locate tonight and he threw some pitches in the middle of the plate.”
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