Catfish Close In On First Place

With eight games to go in the first half of the season, the Columbus Catfish have moved to within five games of the Rome Braves for first place in the South Atlantic League South Division, after tonight's 7-4 win.

Rome jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 4-½ inning, with two in the second, and one run each in the fourth and fifth innings. The Catfish narrowed it to 4-3 with Sergio Pedroza's league-leading 14th home run of the season. The four-bagger also plated C Juan Apadoca and SS Ivan DeJesus, who both had reached on singles.

In the seventh inning, the Catfish took the lead, knocking reliever Pedro Rayo out of the game after scoring a run on two singles and two walks, then scoring three more, also charged to Rayo, on a wild pitch and a Jason Mooneyham single. By the time the third Rome pitcher of the inning finally got the third out, the Catfish had a 7-4 lead, which held up when Matt Gomez de Segura struck out six of the last seven Rome batters to earn his first save of the season.

Tomorrow night, the final game of the short, three-game series gives the Catfish the chance to earn their first home sweep of the season, and close the gap on the division-leading Rome Braves.