Catfish Rocked By Greenville

Last night's game between the Columbus Catfish and the Greenville Drive (Red Sox) featured 7 home runs. For the Catfish, the bad news was that Greenville had six of them.

Starter Wade Townsend set down the first 3 and the last 3 batters he faced, but was hit hard by Greenville batters in between. He allowed 8 runs on 9 hits -- 5 of them homers -- in 5 innings work, as he took his 5th loss of the season. Reliever Matt Falk pitched 3 innings, and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits, one of them a solo homer to lead the 8th.

Down 8-0 in the 7th, finally got on the board with a Nevin Ashley leadoff homer. With 1 out, Quinn Stewart singled, then reached second on an error that allowed Matt Fields to reach first, and scored on a single by Joey Callender. Following a pitching change, Fields scored on the first of two passed balls in the inning. With 2 outs, the second passed ball allowed Callender to reach third. Callendar then scored on a Desmond Jennings single, cutting the lead to 8-4.

In the 8th, the Catfish closed the gap further. With 1 out, Ashley singled, and reached third on an error that let Ryan Royster reach base. After another pitching change, Stewart singled, scoring Ashley, making it 8-5. But that was as close as the Catfish got. Greenville scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th, putting the game at 11-5.

The series with Greenville continues tonight, before the first half ends Sunday. The All-Star break will have the Catfish sending 4 players to Rome. The second half opens Thursday.