River City Rascals - Independent Professional Baseball

CLEM COLLECTS HIS FOURTH WIN LEADING RASCALS TO VICTORY

O’Fallon, MO—On the day their best player Mike Benacka was picked up by the Oakland A’s, Chris Clem pitched a gem as the River City Rascals down the Southern Illinois Miners 5-2 Tuesday night.

With the win, the Rascals scored over three runs for the first time in four games and ended the Southern Illinois Miners four game winning streak.

Clem (4-5) made an impressive return to the Rascals starting rotation after appearing the past three times out of the bullpen. Clem pitched 7.1 innings with five strikeouts to clench the win against the Miners.

The Rascals breakout offensive inning came early as they scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the third inning. After a balk forced in the first run, Brad Hough stood at the plate with runners at second and third against Miner starter Jeremy Dow. Hough would single into center field scoring Andrew Sweet and Phil Laurent and giver River City a 3-0 lead.

The Rascals second offensive effort came in the bottom of the seventh inning, again with two outs on the board. Sweet hit an RBI single to center scoring Ryan Wehrle who reached on an infield single. Jeff Miller later walked with the bases loaded to force in the Rascals fifth run.

Clem’s biggest moment on the mound came after he walked in a run in the fourth. Still with the bases loaded, he struck out the next two batters and got the third out on a ground ball to limit the damage.

“I just got angry out there,” Clem said. “I focused and that was a big turning point for us”

Dow, who was just released by the Midwest Sliders, fell to 2-8 overall on the season with the loss. Jonathan Miller collected his first save of the season, filling the void left by Benacka, by pitching one inning and striking out two batters.

River City (26-30) and Southern Illinois (31-25) will finish their series on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday nights are Military Appreciation nights and Military personnel can show their ID’s at the box office to get $2 off a box seat ticket. The United States Coast Guard will be honored at T.R. Hughes Ballpark during the series finale. Gates open at 6:05 p.m. and tickets can be purchased by calling (636) 240-BATS or www.rivercityrascals.com.

7/22/08
Southern Illinois 2, River City 5

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Southern Illinois	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	9	0
River City	0	0	3	0	0	0	2	0	X	5	9	1

Southern Illinois	POS	AB	R	H	RBI	AVG
K. Koski	CF	5	0	1	0	.281
E. Suttle	RF	4	0	0	0	.279
W. Keene	DH	4	1	2	0	.283
T. Dorn	1B	4	1	3	1	.280
B. Jones	3B	4	0	1	0	.270
R. Rosa	CAT	3	0	0	0	.250
M. Scanzano	SS	3	0	0	1	.293
B. Goldsmith	LF	4	0	1	0	.255
T. Lairson	2B	4	0	1	0	.333
J. Dow	PIT	0	0	0	0	.000
B. Wilburn	PIT	0	0	0	0	.000
N. Starnes	PIT	0	0	0	0	.000
TOTALS		35	2	9	2

River City	POS	AB	R	H	RBI	AVG
L. Barganier	CF	4	1	1	0	.310
A. Sweet	CAT	4	2	2	1	.297
P. Laurent	RF	3	1	1	0	.236
B. Hough	3B	2	0	1	2	.282
J. Miller	LF	3	0	0	1	.286
W. Basom	1B	4	0	1	0	.350
C. Newman	DH	4	0	0	0	.000
R. Wehrle	2B	3	1	1	0	.240
G. Stone	SS	3	0	2	0	.230
C. Clem	PIT	0	0	0	0	.000
G. Lee	PIT	0	0	0	0	.000
J. Miller	PIT	0	0	0	0	.000
TOTALS		30	5	9	4

E--G.Stone. DP--SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 0, RIVER CITY 1. LOB--SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 9, RIVER CITY 7. 2B--W.Keene (5), T.Dorn 2 (12), B.Jones (12), W.Basom (5). SB--K.Koski (10), B.Hough (12), R.Wehrle (3). CS--G.Stone. HBP-- E.Suttle, R.Rosa. SH--G.Stone.

Southern Illinois	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
J. Dow (L, 0-1)	5.0	5	3	3	2	3	0	5.40
B. Wilburn	1.2	3	2	2	3	2	0	4.09
N. Starnes	1.1	1	0	0	0	1	0	6.95

River City	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
C. Clem (W,4-5)	7.1	7	2	2	1	5	0	6.03
G. Lee	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4.50
J. Miller (S,1)	1.0	2	0	0	0	2	0	4.02

HB--C.Clem 2. BALKS--J.Dow. PB--A.Sweet. SO--K.Koski, E.Suttle, M.Scanzano, B.Goldsmith 2, T.Lairson 2, P.Laurent, B.Hough, J.Miller, C.Newman 3. BB--M.Scanzano, P.Laurent, B.Hough 2, J.Miller, R.Wehrle.

Time: 3:00, Attendance: 2,003