Osprey jump out early, beat Voyagers

GREAT FALLS, MONT. - Rudy Flores had two hits and four RBIs, while Karl Triana pitched five shutout innings to lead the Missoula Osprey to an 8-2 win over the Great Falls Voyagers on Monday here at Centene Stadium in front of 885 fans.

The win kept the Osprey (20-15, 38-35) one game behind Billings in the Pioneer League North Division standings with three games to play. It also made the two games between the Mustangs and Osprey the determining factor in the division race. The Osprey will need to win both games to win the North Division Second-Half title, with the winner hosting the Voyagers (14-21, 38-35) on Friday in Game 1 of the North Division Playoffs.

The Osprey jumped on top early, thanks to a solo home run by Socrates Brito and a two-run single by Flores, pushing the Osprey to a 3-0 lead in their first at-bat. A run-scoring triple by Alex Glenn would extend the Missoula lead to 4-0 in the third. Breland Almadova singled home a run in the top of the fifth, and Flores added a RBI groundout for a 6-0 Osprey edge through five.

After Great Falls scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Osprey added single tallies in the eighth and ninth innings, on a RBI groundout by Brito in the eighth and a run-scoring single by Flores in the ninth, to round out the scoring.

Triana (5-5) pitched five solid innings, allowed four hits and three walks but did not surrender a run in picking up the win on the mound. Dexter Price allowed two runs in two innings of work, while Chase Stevens and Vince Spilker each added an inning of shutout relief.

Lamb joined Flores with two hits each as the Osprey had just nine hits on the night. Andrew Velazquez and Yosbel Gutierrez, who scored three runs, each singled for Missoula.

The Osprey and Voyagers will wrap up their two-game series on Tuesday at Centene Stadium. The Osprey will send Yoimer Camacho to the mound, while the Voyagers will counter with JC Casey in a battle of right-handers.

The Osprey will come home for their final two games of the 2012 regular season against the Billings Mustangs on September 5-6. Tickets are available now at the MSO Hub Box Office, located at 140 North Higgins in Downtown Missoula, online at MissoulaOsprey.com and by phone (406) 543-3300.