Must Have Been The Bus

While listening to the game last night, I learned the BlueClaws player bus caught on fire while in route to North Carolina Saturday morning. There were no injuries, and all players escaped without harm. According to the announcer, most of players settled in and slept on tables at the rest stop while waiting for bus repairs. However, they say Chance was awake until 8:00 a.m. on game day. Maybe that explains the rough outing below?

8/2/2008
BlueClaws beat up Greensboro 14-5 on Saturday night
Lakewood scores 12 in first two innings

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The BlueClaws scored 12 runs in the first two innings to put away Greensboro early and cruised to a 14-5 victory on Saturday night at NewBridge Bank Park.

Lakewood scored six runs in both the first and second frames in support of starter Chance Chapman. The 14 runs were the most scored by the BlueClaws in a single game this season.

In a sign of things to come, Dominic Brown got the scoring going with a lead-off home run against Grasshoppers starter Bryan Evans (1-3). Evans got just one out before being pulled eight batters into the game. Evans was responsible for the first six runs of the game, giving up eight hits. He did strike out Matt Rizzotti for the only out he recorded.

The first man out of the ''pen, Chris Bodishbaugh, did not do much better, going just 1 2/3 innings, giving up six earned runs on four hits and four walks.

From top to bottom, nearly every BlueClaws hitter put up a gaudy line. Brown and Derrick Mitchell each drove in three runs, while Freddy Galvis, Mike Durant and Travis Mattair each brought in two. Eight of the nine BlueClaws hitters posted a multi-hit game, as Lakewood (27-15, 65-47) combined for 17 hits.

Chapman (7-5) earned the victory despite a rocky outing. The 24-year old righy pitched six innings and gave up four runs, all earned, on nine hits. He did strike out seven, but never looked comfertable with a the big lead under his belt.

Mike Stanton led a faily meaningless late Greensboro offensive charge, slugging his league-leading 28th home run of the season off of Chapman in the sixth inning.