PCL: Isotopes relief pitching falls apart in loss to Cubs

James Barron | The New Mexican

6/23/2008 - 6/24/08

ALBUQUERQUE — It was a comeback that was done in typical Albuquerque Isotopes fashion.

Unfortunately, so, too was the collapse that followed.

Six runs weren't safe enough for the Iowa Cubs, but it was a nice starting point when it came time to battle the Isotopes' bullpen. They scraped their way to a 10-8 win in Pacific Coast League baseball in front of a crowd of 6,424 at Isotopes Park on Monday night.

The relief trio of Taylor Tankersley, Ross Wolf and Brandon Villafuerte touched for four runs by the Cubs from the seventh inning on to break a 6-all tie.

It came after Albuquerque rallied from a 6-0 deficit after the second inning.

Iowa didn't blister the ball — of its 20 hits, there were only three doubles among them.

The tie was broken off Tankersley (0-1) in the seventh with Andres Blanco's two-run single for 8-6.

In the eighth, back-to-back singles by Bobby Scales and Daryle Ward led to Ben Broussard's sacrifice fly to score Scales.

An inning later, it was a pitcher who did the damage as reliever Jesse Estrada doped a double to left-center field for 10-6.

"We just didn't pitch very well," said Steve Phillips, the Isotopes' hitting coach and acting manager for Dean Treanor, who served the last of his three-game suspension. "When you give up 20 hits, there is not a whole lot of god you can say."

The runs were needed when the Isotopes battled back for two runs in the ninth, but the rally fell short when catcher John Baker struck out against reliever Carmen Pignatiello.

The Cubs picked up where they left off on Sunday and applied pressure to Isotopes starter Gaby Hernandez.

They rapped out two hits in the first inning, then eight more in a six-run second.

Four of them came in a row — a double and three singles — for 5-0. Then Josh Kroeger walked and Casey McGehee looped a double that found chalk to score Broussard from third base for a six-run cushion.

But J.R. Mathes, who came in with a 2.48 ERA, couldn't hold the lead after firing three scoreless innings.

The Isotopes scored five times in the fourth, highlighted by Jai Miller's two-run double to make it 6-4. He then scored on Chris Barnwell's groundout to trim the margin to one.

The advantage was gone when Dallas McPherson skied a solo homer run that the wind carried into the Isotopes bullpen beyond left field.

Despite the letdown, Mathes earned the win, going six innings while allowing six runs on 10 hits.