Jackson, Tenn. - J.D. Martin is reinventing himself as a knuckleballer, and it seemed to be working on Friday night.
Jackson, Tenn. - J.D. Martin is reinventing himself as a knuckleballer, and it seemed to be working on Friday night.
The 35-year-old Montgomery Biscuits veteran held the Jackson Generals to four hits at The Ballpark at Jackson, helping the visitors to a 6-2 win. The loss puts the Generals (18-9) down 2-1 in their series with Montgomery (11-17) and marked a season low in hits.
Martin stood out on the hill despite the longest outing of the year for Generals right-hander Taylor Widener (0-1, 3.42 ERA), who worked into the sixth inning. The Generals' Achilles heel on Friday was the long ball, as Brandon Lowe and Michael Brosseau homered off of Widener and Joel Payamps, respectively, putting Montgomery ahead 6-0 by the bottom of the eighth inning. Yoan López worked a scoreless ninth inning, but Jackson could not overcome ceding multiple dingers at home for the first time this year.
The Generals got a multi-hit effort from Jose Vinicio in the leadoff spot, but no other Jackson player managed more than one hit. The hosts went hitless in four at-bats with men in scoring position, and they stranded four runners as well. Kevin Medrano's first-inning double was one of only two hits the Generals had through the first seven innings, as Martin-a big-league starter with the Washington Nationals in 2009-commanded the knuckler over 96 pitches, departing with two outs in the eighth.
TOP PERFORMERS - Generals
SS Galli Cribbs Jr. - 1-3, R, 3B
2B Jose Vinicio - 2-4
TOP PERFORMERS - Montgomery
RHP J.D. Martin - 7.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K
LF Brandon Lowe - 2-3, R, 3 RBI, HR, 3B
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
BOTTOM 8: Galli Cribbs bloops a hit into center field that falls between four Montgomery defenders, leading Cribbs to hustle all the way to third with a triple. Cribbs scores the Generals' first run on a Jason Morozowski RBI groundout, and Marcus Littlewood then works a full-count walk. After a flyout, Jose Vinicio singles and Josh Prince walks, loading the bases for Kevin Medrano. During Medrano's at-bat, a passed ball allows Littlewood to score from third, moving Vinicio and Prince into scoring position. Medrano's plate appearance ends with a groundout to shortstop after a close pitch that was ruled a strike, a call that would have given Medrano a walk if it had been a ball. Medrano's comments to the home plate umpire after the at-bat lead to his ejection from the game, and Generals manager Shelley Duncan is ejected shortly thereafter in coming to Medrano's defense. Juniel Querecuto replaces Medrano at third base, as the Generals see their last good shot at a big rally fall short.
SCORE: MTG 6, JXN 2
NEXT GAME:
6:05pm CT Saturday (5/4) at The Ballpark at Jackson (Jackson, TN)
RHP Ryan Atkinson (JXN-1-2, 4.08 ERA) vs. RHP Eduar Lopez (MTG---1-2, 5.40 ERA)
THIS GENERALS HOMESTAND:
May 2-6 vs. Montgomery Biscuits, featuring Star Wars Night at The Ballpark (Saturday, May 5)
Dial 731-988-5299 for tickets to see Jackson Generals Baseball!
