APPALACHIAN LEAGUE: Paniagua, BriSox End Five-Game Losing Streak

By The Continuous News Desk

Published: July 24, 2008

BY SPENCER CAMPBELL
Bristol Herald Courier
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. — With the temperature hovering somewhere near perfect, the wind blowing just enough and a pair of beauty queens officiating the game’s opening ceremonies, the Johnson City Cardinals did everything they could to ensure last night’s game would be perfect.

Bristol White Sox starting pitcher Onarkys Paniagua got the memo.

Unfortunately for Cardinals’ fans, their team did not.

Using mainly a low-90s fastball, Paniagua silenced Johnson City’s (18-18) bats last night, going seven innings on just 81 pitches and allowing only one run in the BriSox 3-2 victory over the Cardinals at Howard Johnson Field.

The Dominican Republic native worked quickly, surrendering only five hits and one walk. The win runs his record to 3-1 and dropped his ERA to 4.00.

“Obviously, [Paniagua] did an outstanding job tonight,” BriSox manager Bobby Thigpen said. “He attacked hitters, attacked the zone, it seemed like he had all his pitches working.
Seven innings for us is pretty good, especially with the pitch count we have for guys right now.”

Paniagua never reached his predetermined limit of 85 pitches.

The win broke a five-game BriSox (15-16) losing streak and got the team back within a whisper of .500 ball. 

“Hopefully we’ll start putting together more hits and get some more runs,” Thigpen said. “These kinds of games wear on you after a while, but we haven’t won in five games so we’ll take it and hopefully we can build on it from here.”

The BriSox pitching staff, including Paniagua, was aided more by the team’s defense and Johnson City’s mental errors than its own offense. The BriSox committed no errors and several players ended scoring threats with jaw-dropping, aerobatic defensive plays.

In the bottom of the third, with Johnson City third baseman Alex Castellanos standing on second after a double, Brett Lilley hit a Paniagua fastball deep into the left-centerfield gap.

As Castellanos was rounding second, BriSox centerfielder Justin Greene leapt high up the wall to rob Lilley of a double and the Cardinals a run.

But more than Greene, and perhaps more than Paniagua, the BriSox have the Cardinals’ mental lapses to thank for this win.

Back-to-back Johnson City errors and an Orlando Santos single in the top of the second left the bases loaded with BriSox and the Cardinals with no outs. The BriSox, however, were only able to get across one run on a fielder’s choice.

The Cardinals tied the game in the fifth, when three straight singles scored Jairo Martinez, but the BriSox quickly retook the lead in the top of the sixth, again plating a run after two Johnson City errors.

The BriSox added an insurance run, one they would desperately require, in the seventh. Third baseman Hancer Vargas, already with a run and a hit, drove in Andrew Garcia before being thrown out at second. It was Vargas’ tenth RBI of the season.

“I felt pretty good, I always play aggressive baseball, attacking,” Vargas said through a translator. “I never leave a good fastball.”

The Cardinals, finishing the evening with five errors marring their scoreboard, also continued to attack. When Paniagua was lifted after the seventh inning, Castellanos hit his fifth home run of the year off of BriSox reliever Juan Moreno.

In the bottom of the ninth, still behind 3-2, Cardinal designated hitter Andrew Garcia led off with a single. Travis Mitchell, who pinch ran for Garcia, made it to second before being picked off. BriSox closer Kevin Asselin had to survive one more scoring threat in the ninth for his seventh save of the year.

Bristol completes its three game series at Johnson City tonight when it plays the Cardinals at 7 p.m. at Howard Johnson Field.
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