Patterson dominant as 'Topes earn split

Red Patterson struck out nine batters and limited the Zephyrs to one hit in six innings, and the Albuquerque Isotopes rode a six-run fifth inning to defeat New Orleans, 7-4 on Sunday afternoon.

Filling in for Matt Magill, who was recalled earlier in the day by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Patterson struck out the side in the first inning. He allowed only a leadoff double to Gorkys Hernandez in the fourth, then fanned Bryan Petersen and Jordan Brown with Hernandez in scoring position.

Patterson (3-1) turned in his longest outing of the season in his third start since joining the Isotopes rotation.

Albuquerque got on the board in the fourth inning courtesy of a Justin Sellers RBI double, then struck for six runs against Z's starter Matt Neil in the fifth. Matt Angle blasted a three-run homer to right-center field, and a single by Rusty Ryal followed by a Jeremy Moore double chased Neil from the game.

Sellers greeted reliever Jordan Smith with a two-run single up the middle, part of a four-hit day for Sellers to pace the Isotopes' 12-hit attack. Sellers scored on a double by Brian Barden to cap the frame, the third time this season the Zephyrs have allowed six runs in an inning.

Brown broke up the shutout bid with a two-out solo homer in the seventh off Anthony Ortega, his second home run of the season. Ortega also served up a pinch-hit, three-run homer to Kyle Skipworth in the ninth, the first Triple-A home run for the former first-round pick, but Sean White came on to record the final two outs to earn his first save of the season.

Neil (1-2) was charged with six runs - five earned - on eight hits in four innings and took the loss.

The Zephyrs begin an eight-day, nine-game road trip on Monday in Memphis with the completion of an April 10 rain-suspended game.