Kinston tops Hillcats in ‘home run derby’ battle

By Andy Bitter

Published: May 3, 2008

A stiff breeze was blowing out of the ballpark Saturday night, turning City Stadium into a launching pad, even for a Lynchburg team not known for its home run prowess.

But the Hillcats weren’t the only ones who muscled up.

Kinston’s Jerad Head hit a two-run home run, one of five in the game, to lift the Indians to a 6-3 win against Lynchburg in the rubber match of the series.

Steve Lerud, Jamie Romak and Kent Sakamoto all hit solo home runs for the Hillcats (12-17), who rallied from a 3-0 deficit to tie things up in the sixth. But it was Head’s shot in the eighth that proved to be the difference maker.

With a runner on first and nobody out, the right fielder worked a full count against Hillcats reliever Matt McSwain. Kinston (10-16) put on the hit and run, but Head made it a moot point, crushing the pitch off the base of the scoreboard in left center to put the Indians ahead for good.

“It wasn’t a bad pitch,” Hillcats manager Jeff Branson said. “The ball was down and the guy just got the bat head to it. It was a good piece of hitting. I didn’t think it was a bad pitch at all.”

McSwain (0-1) gave up three runs in two innings as Lynchburg dropped to 2-4 on its current 13-game homestand.

Heath Taylor (2-2) earned the win with two scoreless innings of relief for Kinston.

Closer Luis Perdomo notched his fifth save in five chances. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in 17 innings this year.

Kinston took a 3-0 lead in the fourth thanks to, surprise, a home run. With a runner on and nobody out, Nick Weglarz, the Indians’ sixth-ranked prospect according to Baseball America, crushed a Daniel Moskos fastball out to right center, his third homer this season and second of the series.

“I could have hit that pitch out,” Moskos said. “It was just right down the chute. … He’s a really good hitter. I can’t make that kind of pitch to him because he’s going to make me pay for it every time.”

Still, Moskos, the fourth overall pick in last year’s draft, thought he pitched OK in his sixth start. The lefty only lasted four innings and allowed three runs (two earned). But he gave up just two hits, only one of which — the home run — was hit hard.

Moskos has been working on throwing four-seam fastballs instead of his usual two-seam sinker, sacrificing some movement in an effort to get more velocity (though the coaching staff has learned that he still gets some downward movement on his four-seamer anyway).

It’s an organizational edict, one that the former Clemson star is still trying to get down.

“It’s a big adjustment,” Moskos said. “For the 13 years I’ve been pitching, I’ve been throwing predominantly two-seam fastballs. So it’s a pretty big change.”

Moskos let a little frustration show near the end of his night. Two batters after the homer, he thought Kinston center fielder Cirilo Cumberbatch took a little too long to get in the batter’s box. Moskos fired two straight fastballs that sailed high and wide of Lerud’s glove and hit the backstop on the fly.

Pitching coach Bob Milacki made an immediate mound visit to settle him down.

“He knows that he’s better than what he showed tonight, and that’s just the competitive nature coming out,” Branson said. “I told him that’s great to see, but we have to control that and stay within yourself.”

NOTES: LHP Brian Holliday was promoted Saturday to Double-A Altoona to make a spot start in the second game of the Curve’s doubleheader against Erie. The game was postponed because of rain. … Lerud has a team-leading five home runs this season, one more than he had all of last year. His career high was 12 at Low-A Hickory in 2006. … Sakamoto was 3-for-4. … Hillcats reliever Eric Krebs pitched three scoreless innings, striking out three.