Gonzalez leads Rockers past Legends
Aug. 24—LEXINGTON, Ky. — Jay Gonzalez went 4 for 5 with a home run and an RBI as the Rockers won their final game of the season against Lexington 8-5 on Sunday at Lexington Legends Ballpark.
High Point prevailed for the ninth time in 10 games, improved to 42-35 overall and remained tied with Gastonia for first place in the South Division second half at 11-6. The Rockers begin a three-game series at Gastonia today.
J.R. DiSarcina had a pair of hits and Jared Mitchell contributed two, including a double to go with three RBIs to help the Rockers win for the sixth time in the last seven games against Lexington.
Prior to the game, the Rockers signed Ryan Mordecai, a 26-year-old righthander, with the intent of having him make a single start in Sunday's contest. Mordecai responded with 3 2/3 innings of work while holding the Legends to three hits and just two runs. Mordecai walked five and struck out two before turning it over to the bullpen.
Ryan Chaffee, Joe Johnson, and Chase Ingram allowed three hits and a single run over the next 4 2/3 innings. John Hayes allowed a pair of runs in the ninth.
The Rockers never trailed.
Johnny Field led off the game with a home run to left-center to stake the Rockers to a 1-0 lead. That advantage grew to 4-0 in the second when Randy Norris and DiSarcina each singled and scored on a double by Mitchell. Giovanny Alfonzo followed with an RBI single to score Mitchell for a three-run inning.
High Point added two more runs in the third with Mike Gulino and Mitchell picking up RBIs for a 6-0 lead.
The Rockers added a run in the fifth when Gulino lifted a sacrifice fly that scored Stuart Levy. Gonzalez increased High Point's lead to 8-2 in the seventh when he blasted his first homer as a Rocker to left-center.
On Saturday night, the Rockers' eight-game winning streak came to an end with a 7-6 loss.
Lexington scored all of its runs in the first three innings against Rockers starting pitcher Bryce Hensley, who lasted six innings and allowed 10 hits in dropping to 5-6.
The Rockers trailed 7-2 after three innings but fought their way back into contention, using home runs from Jerry Downs and Randy Norris to pull within one.
Downs blasted a home run with Field aboard to cut the deficit to 7-4. Norris hit a solo homer in the fifth, his first homer as a Rocker, to make it a 7-5 game. And in the seventh, Norris reached on a fielder's choice and would come around to score on a double by Jared Mitchell to make it a one-run game.
Trailing 7-6 in the ninth, Jay Gonzalez led off with a single into the hole at shortstop. But the Rockers were unable to get him across the plate.
Downs, Mitchell and Giovanny Alfonzo each finished the game with two hits while Norris picked up a season-high three hits.
