Strong Pitching Leads RedHawks to Third Straight Win

Tacoma got on the board in the first inning, but did not score again.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:24 pm

By: News On 6

Strong Pitching Leads RedHawks to Third Straight Win

Originally Published: May 11, 2011 11:39 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City RedHawks only managed to score in one inning, but that’s all they needed in a 3-1 victory over the Tacoma Rainiers Wednesday.

The Rainiers (12-22) got on the board first with a sacrifice fly by Mike Carp in the top of the first inning, and they carried that 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth. But that’s when Oklahoma City (16-17) regained the momentum.

The RedHawks tied the game with an RBI groundout by Jose Vallejo, and then took the lead with an RBI single by Anderson Hernandez. They added one more insurance run on an RBI single by Jason Michaels, but they didn’t need it.

The Oklahoma City pitching dominated the rest of the night, allowing a total of just two hits in the final four innings. Tacoma did not get a runner past second base in any of those frames.

Ryan Rowland-Smith (2-2) turned in a strong starting performance, holding the Rainier to one run on six hits in six innings of work. Ross Wolf pitched two perfect innings in relief, and Fernando Rodriguez finished things off in the ninth for his first save of the season.

The RedHawks now have won three games in a row and will continue their four-game series with Tacoma at 7 p.m. Thursday.