Hillcats bullpen finally closes the door

By Chris Lang
Sports writer
Published: May 5, 2008

For much of April, the Hillcats’ bullpen was a steadying force.

In May? Not so much. The bullpen was responsible for consecutive losses to Kinston over the weekend, and for a while Monday night at City Stadium, it looked like the pen would falter again. Winston-Salem scored five times in the sixth and seventh innings, with four of those runs coming against the Lynchburg pen.

But holding a one-run lead late, two Hillcats relievers managed to fight out of jams, with Blair Johnson striking out John Shelby with a runner at second in the eighth, and Adam Simon retiring two Warthog batters with a runner on third in the ninth. Lynchburg won 7-6.

The Hillcats tied a season high with 18 hits, and they needed every one of them. Lynchburg had leads of 5-0, 6-1 and 7-3.

It was a stark contrast from the last time the Hillcats faced Winston-Salem starter Joe Ely, who held Lynchburg to one hit in six innings on April 9 and struck out four batters.

The Hillcats chased Ely by the fifth inning Monday, pounding out 12 hits and six earned runs against the righthander.

“We got on him early with his fastball, so he didn’t know what to throw, so he started throwing his off-speed a lot of times,” said Hillcats third baseman Jim Negrych, who had his first four-hit game of the season and raised his Carolina League-leading batting average to .414. “When you do that, you lose command of your fastball. By the third inning, he had nothing to throw but his off-speed, and we were just digging in on them.”

The Hillcats led 6-1 heading into the sixth inning when the bullpen started leaking. Starter Tony Watson allowed a one-out double to Brandon Allen, and Hillcats manager Jeff Branson lifted Watson. Jake Cuffman promptly allowed an RBI double to Lee Cruz, who later scored on Anderson Gomes’ fielder’s choice.

After Lynchburg went up 7-3 in the sixth when Brian Friday, who was on third, snuck home while Alex Presley was stuck in a rundown between first and second, Winston-Salem struck again. Johnson walked Paulo Orlando to open the inning, and Shelby crushed a pitch over the left-center field fence for a home run, cutting the lead to 7-5.

Javlier Colina doubled and later scored on Adam Ricks’ double, and the Warthogs were within one. With Ricks on second, C.J. Lang grounded out to shortstop, and the Hillcats escaped the inning with a 7-6 lead.

In the ninth, Colina led off with a bloop double to left field and advanced to third on Allen’s grounder to second. The Hillcats were in exactly the same situation last Thursday against Kinston, protecting a one-run lead with one out in the ninth and a runner on third.

Branson drew the infield in, and Simon attacked with his fastball, striking out Cruz. Ricks popped up to Friday at shortstop, and the bullpen — which surrendered four runs and 2 2/3 innings — was off the hook.

“He attacked the hitters,” Branson said of Simon, who picked up his second save and hasn’t allowed a run in four appearances. “He blew the one guy away with his fastball. He said, ‘here, hit it.’ The thing about it is if you’re going to get beat, you’re going to get beat with your best pitch. Everybody’s best pitch here is a fastball.”

Six Hillcats had multiple hits, including Negrych’s 4-for-4 showing. Negrych drove in two runs and continued his sizzling start to the season.

“He’s a guy that’s going up there with a really good approach,” Branson said. “He’s saying, ‘throw it, I’m going to hit it.’ His confidence is unbelievable.”

NOTES: Presley (ankle) was activated from the disabled list Monday and started in center field. … After making a spot start at Double-A Altoona, LHP Brian Holliday returned to Lynchburg. In other moves, the Pirates promoted RHP Jimmy Barthmaier to Altoona, and OF Yonelvy Canal was reassigned to extended spring training. … Aaron Poreda, the White Sox’s first-round pick in the 2007 draft, will start tonight’s game for the Warthogs.