April 3, 2008 — The Reds scored three times in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat the Elmo Plaskett Big League-leading Diamonds, 10-9, Wednesday night at the D.C. Canegata Ball Park.
After erupting for seven runs in the second inning for a 7-2 lead, the Reds saw that lead disappear by their final at-bat, trailing 9-7. They were able to pull out the victory, however, with a lot of help from the Diamonds’ defense.
Batting first, the Diamonds got on the board right away in the top of the first with two runs on an RBI triple by Armando Garcia and an RBI single off the bat of Eric Perez. The Reds had no answer in the bottom of the inning.
After the Diamonds failed to score in the top of the second inning, the Reds erupted for seven run in the bottom of the inning to take a 7-2 lead. They scored seven runs on a two-run single by Yancy Nunez, an RBI single by Deshane Brown, and three costly Diamonds errors.
The Diamonds scored the only run of the third inning on a passed ball to draw one run closer at 7-3.
They tied the game at seven in the top of the fourth inning, scoring four runs on a two-run single by Juan Cirillo and two pass balls. The Reds again failed to score in the bottom of the inning.
After a scoreless fifth inning, the Diamonds took an 8-7 lead in the top of the sixth inning on Eric Perez’s sac fly.
They extended that lead to two at 9-7 in the top of the seventh and final inning on a sac fly off the bat of Angel Torres. The scene was now set for the Reds come back victory. The Reds were able to achieve the victory without a base hit. Two walks, a couple of wild pitches and two errors did in the league leaders to the elation of the Reds. The final error came on a pick off attempt by pitcher Eric Perez with the winning run at second that sailed into left center field and the game was history as the reds came away with the 10-9 victory. For the Reds, it was as if they won the championship.
Ovidio Aquino picked up the win in relief of Reds starter Timothy Sneed, while Perez got the loss for the Diamonds. Top hitters for the winners were Nunez, 1 for 4 with two RBIs, Aquino, 1 for 3, and Brown was 1 for 4 with one RBI. For the Diamonds, Perez was 2 for 4 with two RBIs, Cirillo, 1 for 3 with two RBIs and Garcia was 1 for 3 with one RBI.
