Game 1 vs. Lancaster Barnstormers

In the second rematch of the season, the Skeeters took the field looking to do better against the Barnstormers at Constellation Field. Heath Phillips (0-2, 6.52 ERA) took the mound against Rich Rundles (1-0, 1.67 ERA). With the Somerset Patriots losing to the Camden Riversharks in a matinee game, the Skeeters had a chance to pull within a .5 game of 2nd place...and 1.5 games out of first!!

After Tracy McGrady threw out the official first pitch for his birthday, Phillips faced 4 batters allowing a 2-out double to Terry Tiffee but he was stranded on 2nd base. The Skeeters were able to get a single by Bell & Van Ostrand but failed to score in the inning...leaving 2 runners on base. 

Both teams struggled in the 2nd inning going 3 up & 3 down. In the 3rd inning, Phillips again helped the Barnstormers go 3 up & 3 down for the second inning in a row. The Skeeters thought they had something going when they were able to load the bases on a single by Locke & Botts, & a walk to Van Ostrand but Pressley struck out to end the inning, leaving 3 runners on the bases...5 for the game so far. 

In the 4th inning, after getting 1 out, Phillips began to struggle giving up back-to-back singles to Terry Tiffee & Tommy Everidge but was able to get out of the jam retiring the side and not allowing a run to score. For the 1st time in 3 games, the Skeeters were able to put runs on the board first! The 4th inning saw the Skeeters load the bases on singles by Castro & Harrison, with Martinez reaching after being hit by the pitch...zero outs. Castro scored on a 1-out single by Locke and Harrison scored when Bell was walked with the bases still loaded. Jason "BIG MAN" Botts had a huge chance to put the game out of reach but failed miserably by grounding into the 6-4-3 double play to end the inning...but the score was 0-2, Skeeters lead.

Pedro Liriano came in to relieve Phillips in the 5th inning. He gave up a single to the first batter he faced, Brad Boyer, who then advanced to 2nd on a balk...the first ever balk for the Skeeters. No harm, no foul as Liriano was able to set the next 3 batters down in order, stranding Boyer at 2nd...the 4th Barnstormer left on base. In the bottom half of the 5th inning, and for the 2nd time in the game, the Skeeters went 3 up & 3 down.

For the 3rd time this game, the Barnstormers went 3 up & 3 down for the 6th inning. Liriano struck out 2 batters giving him 4 in 2 innings...just the 6th strike out for the Barnstormers in the entire game. Rundles came out struggling, giving up a 7-pitch walk to Harrison and then on 1 pitch, hitting Martinez for the 2nd time this game. Iggy Suarez then singled (by bunt past the pitcher) to load the bases with no outs! Locke was plunked by Rundles on the 2nd pitch, scoring Harrison from 3rd, bases still loaded. Bell struck out for the 1st out of the inning. Ching Lung Lo came in to relieve Rundles after 5.1 innings. Jason "BIG MAN" Botts cleared the bases with a 1-out double down the RF line! Van Ostrand got a back-to-back double scoring Botts from 2nd base. Pressley reached 1st on a throwing error by the 3rd baseman...still 1 out with 2 on. Castro singled, again loading the bases for the Skeeters. Beau Vaughan came in for Lo to try and stop the bleeding for the Barnstormers. Harrison stepped up to the plate for the 2nd time in the inning and reached 1st on a ground ball hit to the short stop. Van Ostrand scored thanks to a throwing error by the short stop at home plate. Martinez & Suarez went down ending the inning with the bases loaded. The damage was done however as the Skeeters led 0-8 after 6 innings.

Liriano came out in the 7th for his 3rd inning of work and continued to dominate retiring the side in order...making it 10 batters faced, 9 batters retired...9 in a row! Everything slowed down for the Skeeters as they were only able to muster a single from Bell as they were held scoreless...keeping it 0-8 after 7 innings.

After retiring the first 2 batters in the 8th inning, 11 in a row for the game, Liriano gave up back-to-back singles and a 4-pitch walk to load the bases with 2 outs. He got out  f the inning on a ground out to the short stop...not allowing a runner to score. Once again, the Skeeters were able to load the bases, this time on a Pressley single, and a walk to Harrison & Suarez. Locke singled to CF scoring Pressley. Harrison was thrown out at home attempting to score from 2nd base to retire the side. That made the score 0-9 after 8 innings.

Will Startup came in to close the game in the 9th inning and retired the side, 3 up & 3 down...ending the game. The final score was 0-9...the SKEETERS WIN!!!

This win makes it 4 wins in a row, bringing the season record to 12-14...just 1.5 games out of 1st place & a .5 game out of 2nd place behind Somerset! The Skeeters are 7-3 over the last 10 games while the Barnstormers have lost 3 in a row and are 4-6 for their last 10 games. Pedro Liriano gets credit for the win tonight.

Friday's game is scheduled to start at 7:05pm local time.