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By LARY BUMP Special to the Times Leader
Sunday, July 03, 2005     Page: 1C

Most of the signs pointed toward a loss for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red
Barons on Saturday night.
   
Seventeen runners left on base. An umpire’s call that went against
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the ninth inning. A blown three-run lead with two out
in the bottom of that same inning. Rochester in a position to win with runners
on base in every extra inning.
    Yet the one statistic that really mattered was the final score: Red Barons
4, Red Wings 3.
   
Chris Coste hit a sacrifice fly in the 13th inning to drive in Shane
Victorino with his third run of the game. Victorino led off with a walk
against losing pitcher Brent Schoening (1-2), then went to third base on a
one-out single by John Castellano. Coste then lofted a fly ball to center
field to send Victorino home.
   
“They’re all good wins,” said Red Barons manager Gene Lamont. “We should
have had it won after nine, but then it’s a good win once you give up that
lead.”
   
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s 12th win in 14 games capped a long struggle to
bring its winning percentage to .500 (41-41) after being 10 games under that
on June 20.
   
“That’s something we were shooting for,” Lamont said. “We came from a long
way back, and it has been against good teams – Columbus and Buffalo and this
team here. Now we’ve just got to keep it going.”
   
The Barons led Saturday for virtually the entire game. They took a 1-0 lead
in the first inning. Victorino led off with a single, advanced to second base
on a bunt out and scored on a single by Castellano.
   
Another sacrifice fly, by Carlos Ruiz, stretched the advantage to 2-0 in
the fifth inning. In the sixth, Danny Sandoval drove in a run with a two-out
double. Sandoval, who entered the game batting .333, went 4-for-7 and also
scored a run.
   
Lamont said: “Especially since we lost (Ryan) Howard, we have to scratch
for every run we get. We have to score runs from third base, so we have to do
better at that.”
   
For the game, the Red Barons, who totaled 18 hits, were just 2-for-13 with
runners in scoring position. The main reason they still could win was that
Rochester went just 1-for-8 in similar situations. Its only hit with a runner
in scoring position was Chris Heintz’s game-tying home run in the ninth.
   
He almost didn’t have a chance to do that, becauseon a wild pitch early in
Heintz’s at-bat, Terry Tiffee went from first base to third and nearly
overslid the base. Third baseman Buzz Hannahan and Lamont argued with third
base umpire Dusty Dellinger, but to no avail. A television replay seemed to
show that Tiffee had held on to the base.
   
In that ninth inning. Jason Bartlett walked with one out and scored on that
wild pitch by Franklin Perez. Then designated hitter Heintz blasted his fourth
homer this season. Lamont had brought closer Perez in to pitch with one out
and no one on base in the ninth, even though it was a non-save situation.
   
Starting pitcher Eude Brito was brilliant in six two-hit, shutout innings,
then gave way to five relievers. The last of those, Yoel Hernandez (5-1)
worked two scoreless innings to earn the victory. In each of those innings, he
induced a double-play grounder. The Barons_ defense contributed greatly with
five DPs for the game.
   
* NL Roundup: Myers loses shutout, gains victory for Phillies.
   
* AL Roundup: Yankees rally to beat Tigers.
   
See stories Page 5C.
   

   
We should have had it won after nine, but then it’s a good win once you
give up that lead.”
   
Gene Lamont Red Barons manager