Catfish Fall To Rome

The Catfish fell behind early, fought back to take the lead, then fell behind again en route to a 7-4 loss to the Rome Braves tonight. Despite the loss, the Catfish didn't lose any ground on South Division leader Kannapolis, who lost to North Division leader Delmarva, or to second place Augusta who lost to Greenville.

Our player, Dan Batz, had another great game, going 2-for-3, with a home run and a double, with three RBIs.

The Catfish and Rome close out the four-game series tomorrow as Columbus goes for the split.

More from the Columbus Catfish:

Three Rome Longballs Help to Beat Catfish 7-4 at Golden Park
Fish 1-2 in Four-Game Set with Braves; Play Season-Series Final Tomorrow with Rome

COLUMBUS, GA—Rome 1B Mark Jurich’s two-run HR against Catfish RHP Jarod Plummer broke a 4-4 tie in the sixth inning and helped lead the Braves to a 7-4 victory over the Catfish at Golden Park. While a two-run HR by Catfish 1B Dan Batz and a fifth inning RBI single by LF Ryan Carter helped the Catfish rally to take a 4-3 lead from a 3-0 deficit, Rome ultimately emerged victorious to take a two to one lead in the series and a 13-9 lead in the season-series. Plummer took the loss for the Fish, allowing six runs in six innings while striking out seven, as Rome RHP Arthur Santos earned the victory with 2.1 scoreless relief innings. The Fish fall to 26-25 in the second half (54-66 overall) with Rome improving to 27-26 in the second half (66-55 overall).

The Braves, who had the second-fewest HR in the SAL coming into the game, took a 2-0 lead in the third on LF Matt Young’s fifth HR of the season and second of the series. CF Ardley Jansen hit a solo shot to make it 3-0 in the fourth. In the bottom of the frame, C Chris Westervelt led off with a single against RHP Chris Vines, Rome’s starter who did not allow a hit in the first three innings. Batz’s two-run longball later in the inning pulled the Fish to within a run. In the fifth, Batz drove home his third run of the game with a sac fly, and with the bases full and two outs, Carter’s RBI single gave the Fish the lead.

The lead was short-lived as the Braves scored three runs in the sixth against Plummer to take the lead, and added a run in the seventh against Catfish RHP Brian Akin. The Fish had just one hit in the final four innings tonight against three Rome pitchers, a double by Batz in the seventh. LHP Will Startup pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to seal the win for Rome. Tomorrow at 7:00 PM at Golden Park, the Fish and Braves play for the final time in 2005 when RHP Chris Malone (9-5, 3.55 ERA) matches up against LHP Matt Harrison (11-6, 3.26 ERA) in the final game of a four-game series.