KANNAPOLIS— When it comes to running the bases, Macon catcher Miguel Bernard had a busy night when the Braves visited Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium Wednesday night.
No. He wasn’t doing the running. He was doing the watching. And the scrambling. And the throwing.
All in the name of futility.
In a convincing 11-2 Kannapolis Intimidator victory, Bernard was forced to chase down seven — count ‘em, seven — wild pitches. He watched Intimidator manager Razor Shines continue his aggressive baserunning and couldn’t nail three Intimidators who recorded steals.
When Macon tried to run, it was a different story. The Braves had three men picked off base.
It was basically what you would expect when the South Atlantic League’s top team, the Intimidators (35-11) faces one of the worst. Macon is 19-28.
Bernard couldn’t do much with Intimidator starter Dennis Ulacia either. Not only did he go hitless, but his team managed just three hits off the lefty, who remained undefeated at 6-0. Ulacia struck out 12 in just seven innings of work to record his first decision in the last four starts.
“Dennis has been in all of the games,” pointed out Shines. “He has gone 7, 8 innings and it’s been out there. Some nights, we didn’t get him the run support.”
Ulacia was up 2-0 until he gave up a 2-run shot to Ray Serrano in the top of the fourth. His teammates didn’t let him down this time, however.
In the bottom of the inning, Humberto Quintero ripped a single scoring Darren Ciraco for a lead Ulacia would keep.
Guillermo Reyes knocked in Chris Amador in the sixth and he promptly scored when Bernard scooped up a throw in the dirt and fired the ball into left field for a 5-2 advantage.
By this time, the Braves were obviously disheveled and could do nothing right.
Reliever David Watkins came in during the seventh and threw five straight balls, gave up two solid singles and loaded the bases before recording an out. It was 8-2.
For good measure, three more Intimidator runs crossed in the eighth.
“The kids are playing hard,” Shines said after a season-high sixth straight win. “Ihope it gets better. I don’t know whether it can get any better but the kids are really clicking right now. I’m very pleased.”
Kannapolis ripped three Macon pitchers for a season-high 20 hits, four by Ralph Flores, who increased his hitting streak to six. Quintero, Casey Rogowski and Derek Wigginton each had three.
But Ulacia was still the story.
“He really located the baseball well inside,” Shines said. “He was pitching inside for strikes. He’s also throwing his offspeed pitches for strikes and that’s the key.”
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