Kevin Griffin scored the winning run on a throwing error in the eighth inning as the Captains edged the Cats 4-3 on Thursday night at Fair Grounds Field.
With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth, Kevin Griffin led off the inning with a walk. After a popped up bunt attempt and a deep fly ball to left, Wheeler hit a comebacker off the pitcher Alexis Morales which deflected to the second baseman Isa Garcia who threw the ball past the first baseman allowing the go-ahead run to score from third.
Pat O'Sullivan got the Cats on the board in the second inning as he blasted his league-leading 11th home run of the year, a solo shot to right for a 1-0 Cats' lead. With the home run, O'Sullivan extended his hitting streak to 28 games, which ties Tony Mota's 28-game streak in 2005 as the longest hitting streak in modern Cats history.
Fort Worth maintained the 1-0 lead until the bottom of the fifth when the Captains got on the board. After back-to-back singles to start the inning, Tommy Bryant lined to center before BJ Wheeler lined a triple to the right-center field alley, scoring two for a 2-1 Shreveport-Bossier lead. They added another run that inning on an RBI infield single by Jonathan Reynoso.
The Cats immediately tied the game in the top of the sixth when Michael Bell slammed his seventh home run of the season, a two-run round-tripper to tie the game.
Fort Worth had an opportunity to tie the game in the ninth as Cameron Blair walked to start the inning. After a John Allen one-out single, O'Sullivan singled to center but Blair was thrown out at the plate trying to score the tying run. The next batter, Bell struck out swinging to end the game, although he thought he'd drawn a walk one pitch earlier on controversial strike two.
Jakob Cunningham (2-0) worked two scoreless innings in relief to notch his second victory of the year. Morales, who allowed an unearned run in 2/3 of an inning took the loss to fall to 1-2. Justin Dowdy came on to strike out Bell with two outs in the ninth for his second save in as many nights and fifth on the year.
The Cats return to Fort Worth for a three-game weekend series against the Pensacola Pelicans beginning on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. Jae Jung will start for the Cats and will be opposed by Pensacola's Dane DeValk.
