RedHawks Fall on Late Homer in New Orleans

OKC gained and re-gained the lead, but eventually gave it up for good in a 5-4 loss.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:22 pm

By: News On 6

RedHawks Fall on Late Homer in New Orleans

Originally Published: Apr 30, 2011 10:51 PM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Pinch hitters exist for a reason.

New Orleans pinch hitter Aaron Matthews was inserted into the game in the eighth inning and executed his job to perfection, giving the Zephyrs a 5-4 win against Oklahoma City on Saturday.

OKC hit the scoreboard first with an RBI double from Carlos Coporan in the first and a solo homer from Jose Vallejo in the second to take a 2-0 lead.

But with two outs in the third, New Orleans rallied to take a lead. Bryan Peterson scored from third on a balk, then Ruben Gotay tripled to score Vinny Rottino. Joe Thurston singled to bring Gotay home and take a 3-2 lead.

The RedHawks bounced back with a two-out, two-run homer in the sixth, regaining the lead at 4-3.

But the rest of the scoring in the game belonged to New Orleans.

It tied the game on a single, and then Aaron Mathews hit his first home run of the season in pinch hitting duty in the eighth.

Zephyrs reliever Victor Garate picked up the win, while RedHawks pitcher Fernando Rodriguez allowed the go-ahead run and was credited with the loss.

Oklahoma City (8-14) will face New Orleans again in the series finale on Sunday at 2 p.m.