As has been the norm for the Oneonta Tigers and Tri-City ValleyCats this season, weather once again interfered with one of their New York-Penn League games Sunday.
The most recent of six games postponed or suspended between Oneonta and Tri-City came with a twist. This time, it was fog at Damaschke Field. Rain has accounted for the other five interruptions.
The ValleyCats' J.D. Martinez led off the top of the fourth inning with a fly ball that Tigers left fielder Michael Rockett lost in the fog, O-Tigers general manager Andrew Weber said. It dropped for a double.
Weber said the teams' managers conferred with the umpires, who then decided to stop the game. After a 30-minute delay in which the fog did not let up, the game was suspended with the score tied at 1.
The teams meet for the final time this season today at Tri-City. They'll begin with the completion of Sunday's game at 5:30 p.m., with none out and Martinez at second in the top of the fourth. Though the game is at Tri-City, Oneonta will be the home team for the suspended game, which is scheduled for seven innings.
Following a 30-minute break, they'll play their regularly-scheduled game, also set for seven innings, with Tri-City playing as the home team.
The teams did get to finish one game Sunday as the ValleyCats won the completion of a suspended game from July 11, 7-6. Tri-City led that game, 6-4, with two out in the top of the seventh when it was called because of rain.
Oneonta, which swept a doubleheader at Tri-City on Saturday, 5-2 and 8-1, tied the score at 6 in the eighth before Tri-City scored the winning run in the ninth off Wade Kapteyn.
After John Murrian grounded out to second to lead off Oneonta's eighth, Alexis Espinoza singled to center but was caught stealing for the second out. Wade Gaynor then walked and advanced to second on Matthew Mansilla's single to right.
Jimmy Gulliver's RBI single to center sent Mansilla to second as James MacDonald relieved Brenden Stiles for Tri-City.
Christopher Sedon's single to left scored Mansilla with the tying run as Gulliver went to third.
But Jamie Johnson grounded out to second to end it.
The ValleyCats scored the winning run in the ninth off Kapteyn (0-1).
Jhonny Medrano walked with one out and Jacob Goebbert moved him to third with a single to center. Rene Garcia followed with an RBI single to center.
Oneonta (25-16), which holds a three-game lead over Lowell in the Stedler Division, put two runners on in the bottom of the ninth on back-to-back one-out singles by Rawley Bishop and Murrian, but Espinoza grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end it.
In the regularly-scheduled game, both teams scored once in the first inning.
Tri-City's Brian Kemp led off with a triple off and scored on Martinez's groundout to short.
In the bottom of the inning, Johnson doubled and scored on Eric Roof's single.
The teams' other four postponements this season are as follows: June 20 at Tri-City; June 21, July 24 and Friday at Damaschke Field. One of those games was canceled as the teams do not meet again for the remainder of the season after today.
Following today's games, the O-Tigers begin a six-game homestand at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday against Jamestown. Oneonta hosts the Jammers for three games before starting a three-game series against Staten Island at 7:05 p.m. Friday.
Valleycats 7, O-Tigers 6
{"Sports agate MLB teams"/}Completion of July 11 Suspended Game
TRI-CITYOneonta
{"Sports agate MLB batting"/}abrhbiabrhbi
{"Sports agate body text"/}Kemp cf4221Johnson cf4012
Butera ss2000Rockett lf5010
Dixon dh5131Bishop 1b5010
Medrano 3b4101Murrian c5120
Goebbert lf5142Espinoza rf4121
Garcia c5012Gaynor 3b4121
Castro 1b2000Mansilla dh2210
Iorg rf2110Gulliver ss3012
Brksdale ph2110Sedon 2b4021
Hulett 2b3110
De Leon ss1000
Totals387137Totals346126
{"Sports agate MLB 9inning"/}Vermont001021201""7
Oneonta040000020""6
{"Sports agate bat stax"/}E""Medrano 2 (7), Gulliver (9). DP""Tri-City 2, Oneonta 3. LOB""Tri-City 9, Oneonta 8. 2B""Castro (1), Espinoza (7). 3B""Barksdale (1), Goebbert (2). SB""Gulliver (2). CS""Espinoza (3), Gaynor 2 (2), Johnson (1).
{"Sports agate body text"/}Tri-CityIPHRERBBSO
Grimmett544332
Migl100000
Modica ª20001
Stines132210
MacDonald, BS,1,W2-01¤30000
{"Sports agate MLB pitching"/}Oneonta
{"Sports agate body text"/}Gerbe463336
Hamilton2ª53303
Kapteyn, L,0-12¤21111
Grimmett pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.
Gerbe pitched to 3 batters in the 5th.
WP""Gerbe 3, Kapteyn. HBP""Gaynor (by Grimmett), Mansilla (by Grimmett), Espinoza (by Grimmett), Kemp (by Gerbe. Ejections""Oneonta Tigers Manager Howie Bushong ejected by Lentz in the 7th. Umpires""Home, Nick Lentz; Field, Brett Houseman. T""3:05 (1:39 delay). A""491.
