Jeff Brigham K's 10 in 1-0 Victory over Dunedin
Jupiter, FL - Jupiter (47-49, 16-12) split their 8-game road series at Brevard County (32-62) and Daytona (49-44) four up and four down. The Hammerheads looked to grab back some momentum at home working their way into a second place tie with Fort Myers (49-47,15-12) just a-half game back of St. Lucie (51-43, 16-11) and tonight the pitching delivered.
Jeff Brigham (ND, 4-5; 3.87 ERA) tossed another stellar outing, lasting seven innings, with ten strikeouts (single game season high), one walk and four hits alongside no-runs given up during the course of his 86 pitches, 63 for strikes. Brigham was aggressive and worked both corners of the plate, and attacked the zone once again.
Quote of the Night
Manager Randy Ready, "Brigham attacked the strike zone with all three pitches, mainly heat and located his fastball in and out, kept them off balance, mixed in some sliders and the occasional changeup, he was in full control of that game."
"I think the confidence is high right now, he's attacking the hitters. Throwing strikes is the name of the game and his stuff had a lot of life on it with some late movement, he pitched outstanding. Schales has been scuffling a little bit, but a big two out hit. It was a good clean game especially after coming off the road. It was a great bounce back win and I am very proud of those guys in the clubhouse tonight."
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The Hammerheads and Dunedin Blue Jays (51-46) went into the final six outs of the ballgame in a scoreless battle, each starter was outstanding. Blue Jay hurler Conor Fisk (L, 5-3 3.45 ERA) worked 8 innings allowed just five hits and one earned run, seven strikeouts and no walks as he drops a tough one.
The bottom of the 8th was the turning point, Taylor Ard singled to right field and moved into second base on an error by J.D. Davis. Justin Bohn pinch ran for Ard and after a sac bunt from Rony Cabrera moved Bohn to third, Chris Hoo popped out to third baseman Michael De La Cruz, two outs and a big situation brought Brian Schales to the plate.
Schales came through with a double, his 8th of the season, and plated Justin Bohn to eventually give the Hammerheads a hard fought 1-0 win!
Scott Squier (W, 2-0 3.87 ERA) tossed the final two innings scoreless, looked fantastic in his dominant performance, allowed just two hits and fanned two batters in his second win of the season.
Jupiter moves to 13-10 in shutout ballgames and 10-15 on the year in one run games. The Sharks moved to 5-10 when tied after seven innings and 36-13 when scoring first. Only five hits for the Hammerheads on the night.
Jermias Pineda went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts, John Norwood finished 1-for-3, Taylor Ard, Brian Schales and Chris Hoo finish with the same stat line. Hoo moves his hit streak to three games as he also caught Aaron Attaway stealing in the top of the 9th inning for a huge out.
On Deck
The second place Hammerheads and Northern Division leading Dunedin Blue Jays lock horns once again at Roger Dean Stadium tomorrow night, first pitch expected for 6:30 PM on Abacoa Night. Dillon Peters (8-6, 2.87 ERA) is expected to get the ball looking for his third win in a row. Peters has 48 strikeouts in 50 innings pitched in his last ten appearances. Francisco Rios (4-3, 2.27 ERA) is the probable for the Blue Jays.