Seven and one-third innings of New York-Penn League baseball produced one win and one loss for the Oneonta Tigers on Monday.
The Tigers won the completion of a suspended game that started Aug. 9 at Damaschke Field, 7-6, on an RBI single by Alexis Espinoza in the bottom of the 11th inning before losing a regularly scheduled game, 2-1, to the host Staten Island Yankees.
With the split, second-place Oneonta (33-28) picked up a half-game on Stedler Division-leading Lowell (35-27), which lost, 11-0, at Aberdeen on Monday.
Not only is Oneonta 1 1/2 games behind Lowell in the Stedler, it trails Staten Island (35-27) by the same margin for the wild-card spot. Williamsport (34-29), the second-place team in the Pinckney Division, is also a 1 1/2 games behind for the wild card.
Games tonight and Wednesday at Staten Island will be followed by a nine-game homestand for Oneonta that starts at 7:05 p.m. Thursday against Brooklyn. Following a three-game series against Brooklyn, Oneonta will host Hudson Valley for three games and then has three games against Lowell, including a doubleheader Sept. 2. Their Sept. 3 game against Lowell will complete the Tigers' home schedule. They finish the regular season with a three-game series at Hudson Valley from Sept. 4-6.
Oneonta started Monday tied, 6-6, with Staten Island in the completion of the suspended game.
On Aug. 9 at Damaschke Field, Jamie Johnson walked and Michael Rockett singled off Michael Solbach to start the Tigers' 11th before heavy rains and lightning forced the game's suspension.
When play resumed Monday, Johnson and Rockett executed a double-steal to put runners on second and third.
Staten Island reliever Ryan Flannery then intentionally walked Rawley Bishop.
After John Murrian popped out to first, Espinoza singled to left to score Johnson with the winning run.
Things seemed to be looking for up for Oneonta in the regularly scheduled game, with Luis Sanz getting the start in the seven-inning game. Sanz had a scoreless innings streak that spanned 14 innings.
Sanz extended that streak to 15 by inducing three groundball outs in the first inning.
But it ended in the second inning, when Sanz lost his control and allowed the Yankees to score without getting a ball out of the infield.
Luke Murton led off with an infield single to short. Sanz then walked Neil Medchill and Kyle Higashioka to load the bases.
Murton scored on a wild pitch by Sanz to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
A throwing error by Sanz allowed Kelvin Castro to reach first and re-load the bases.
But Sanz escaped further damage by getting Carmen Angelini to ground into a 1-2-3 double play before getting Emerson Landoni to ground out to short.
Sanz went five innings, allowing one run on three hits. He walked five and struck out one.
The Tigers tied the score in the third, when Carmelo Jaime singled to center to lead off and went to second on Jim Gulliver's walk. After Johnson struck out and Rockett popped to short, Bishop reached on an infield single to second that scored Jaime to make it 1-1.
Staten Island scored the winning run in the sixth inning off Cory Hamilton (4-5).
Hamilton got Murton to ground out to second and struck out Medchill to start the inning.
Higashioka then reached on a walk and went to third on Castro's single to left. Angelini followed with an RBI single to right.
Singles by Bishop, Espinoza, Keith Hernandez and Jaime were all the offense Oneonta mustered against three Staten Island pitchers.
Starter Sean Black allowed one run on three hits. Winning pitcher Ronny Marte (4-3) followed with two innings of one-hit relief and Gavin Brooks worked around a leadoff walk to Wade Gaynor in the seventh to earn his second save.
O-Tigers 7, Yankees 6
{"Sports agate MLB teams"/}Completion of Aug. 9 Suspended Game
Staten IslandOneonta
{"Sports agate MLB batting"/}abrhbiabrhbi
{"Sports agate body text"/}Landoni 2b5121Johnson cf4210
Almonte cf4131Rockett lf4110
Murton 1b4100Bishop 1b3110
Mack dh5010Murrian dh5011
Lyon 3b4211Espinoza rf6133
Castro 3b0000Gaynor 3b4100
Milo lf4012Hrnandez c5111
Medchill lf0000Jaime ss5012
Gross rf4011Sedon 2b5010
Angelini ss5110
Afenir c4000
Hgashioka c0000
Totals396106Totals417107
{"Sports agate MLB 12inning"/}Staten Island30100000200""2
Oneonta50000010001""1
{"Sports agate MLB 9inning"/}E""Angelini (7). DP""Oneonta 2. LOB""Staten Island 6, Oneonta 12. 2B""Almonte (13), Milo (2), Espinoza 2 (11), Jaime (3), Bishop (11), Murrian (12). 3B""Landoni (1). S""Rockett. CS""Almonte (6). SB""Rockett (2), Johnson (6). PO""Almonte.
{"Sports agate body text"/}Staten IslandIPHRERBBSO
Rondon 455547
Perez5ª31125
Watkins¤00001
Solbach L,0-3011110
Flannery¤10010
{"Sports agate MLB pitching"/}Oneonta
{"Sports agate body text"/}Siso574434
Newman200022
Hess1¤22203
Faulk BS,2ª10001
LaLuna W,3-3200002
Solbach pitched to 2 batters in the 11th.
WP""Rondon 2. IBB""Bishop (by Perez), Bishop (by Flannery). HBP""Murton (by Siso). Umpires""Home, Jose Rivera; Field, Brian Debraywere. T""3:18 (:14 delay). A""486.
---
Yankees 2, O-Tigers 1
{"Sports agate MLB teams"/}oneontaStaten Island
{"Sports agate MLB batting"/}abrhbiabrhbi
{"Sports agate body text"/}Johnson cf3000Paredes dh3010
Rockett lf3000Almonte cf3000
Bishop 1b2011Mack rf1000
Espinoza rf3010Murton 1b3110
Roof dh3000Medchill lf 2000
Gaynor 3b2000Hgashioka c1110
Hrnandez c3010Castro 3b3010
Jaime 2b3110Angelini ss3010
Gulliver ss1000Landoni 2b2000
Murrian ph1000
Totals24141Totals21251
{"Sports agate MLB 9inning"/}Oneonta0010000""1
Staten Island0100001""2
E""Sanz (2), Hernandez (1), Marte (2). DP""Oneonta 2, Staten Island 1. LOB""Oneonta 5, Staten Island 7. CS""Espinoza (6). SB""Almonte (14), Landoni (4). PO""Almonte.
{"Sports agate body text"/}OneontaIPHRERBBSO
Sanz 531151
Hamilton L,4-5121111
{"Sports agate MLB pitching"/}Staten Island
{"Sports agate body text"/}Black 431122
Marte W,4-3210002
Brooks S,2100012
WP""Sanz. Umpires""Home, Garrett Cole; Field, Gabriel Morales. T""2:02 (:10 delay). A""2,212.
