De La Rosa Goes 4-for-4, CT Tigers Top Lowell

NORWICH, Ct. - Newly-added outfielder Eric De La Rosa went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate with two runs batted in for the Connecticut Tigers (8-12) and Jack O'Loughlin recorded a 12-out save in a 5-2 win over the Lowell Spinners (9-11) on Thursday night at Dodd Stadium.

Connecticut acquired De La Rosa from the Class A West Michigan Whitecaps on Thursday afternoon and inserted him into the starting lineup as the seven-hitter and left fielder. The 2018 Detroit Tigers seventh-round draft pick bunted for a single in his first at-bat in the second inning and scored two batters later on a Lowell fielding error to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.

In the third, De La Rosa followed an RBI double by Gresuan Silverio with a run-scoring double of his own to left field and the 21-year-old Grossmont Junior College (CA) alum added his second RBI double in the fifth to score Silverio and extend the Connecticut lead to 5-2.

De La Rosa beat out another infield grounder in the eighth to cap off his New York-Penn League debut with a four base hits, two doubles, two RBI, and a run scored. He's the second Connecticut hitter this season to finish 4-for-4 in a single game after Isrrael De La Cruz achieved the feat on June 23 in an 8-4 home loss to the Brooklyn Cyclones.

Tigers starter Carlos Guzman (Win, 1-1) pitched a career-high five innings with no earned runs allowed. The Spinners plated a run against him on a throwing error in the first and a fielding error put Devlin Granberg aboard in the fifth before he scored a second Lowell run. Guzman struck out six with no walks on 70 pitches.

Australian 18-year-old Jack O'Loughlin (Save, 1) earned his first save on American soil by maintaining the 5-2 Tigers lead through the final four innings. After replacing Guzman to start the sixth, O'Loughlin retired the first nine batters he faced with five strikeouts and worked around two singles and a walk in the ninth to finish with a career-best six strikeouts.

Silverio led the Tigers with two runs scored on Thursday against Lowell and Connecticut improved to 2-1 this season while wearing Norwich Navigators uniforms as part of their ongoing Throwback Thursday promotion at Dodd Stadium. 

On Friday, Connecticut clashes with the Stedler Division-rival Lowell Spinners at Dodd in the rubber game of their three-game set with first pitch at 7:05 p.m. Right-handed starter Carson Lance (1-1, 4.29) goes against Lowell righty Alexander Montero (0-1, 1.93) on Disney Night and Fireworks Friday presented by Liberty Bank. 

The Connecticut Tigers are the New York-Penn League affiliate of the Detroit Tigers at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Connecticut. Individual tickets for all 2018 home games, season memberships to "The Club," ticket mini-plans, and Tigers merchandise are now on sale at Dodd Stadium, over the phone at 860-887-7962, and online at CTTigers.com.