Serrano, Kings Walk Off in Ninth

Clinton, IA - Terry Serrano's RBI double off the wall in right-center scored Mario Martinez, giving the Clinton LumberKings a 1-0 win over the Burlington Bees Tuesday night at Alliant Energy Field. Serrano's hit came with two outs, powering the LumberKings to a series split.

The game remained scoreless until the ninth inning thanks to outstanding pitching performances for both teams. Right-hander Brett Lorin tossed a career-high 7.0 scoreless innings for the Kings, scattering four hits while striking out five. He dueled with right-hander Manuaris Baez of the Bees, who did not allow a run in five hits over 4.0 innings. Left-hander Blaine Hardy (L, 0-2) struck out eight batters over 4.2 relief innings, but ran into trouble in the ninth.

Denny Almonte opened the ninth inning with a bloop double to right-center and moved to third on a sac bunt by Travis Howell. However, Martinez grounded to drawn-in shortstop J.D. Alfaro, who retired Almonte at the plate. Martinez took over at first, scoring on the Serrano double.

Right-hander Steven Hensley (W, 4-0), who was scratched from a start on Monday night due to illness, came on in relief for the Kings. His 2.0 scoreless innings and two strikeouts helped make him the league's first four-game winner.

Serrano had the only multi-hit night for the LumberKings, going 2-for-3. Eric Hosmer went 2-for-4 with two singles for Burlington.

The LumberKings (10-7) open a three-game series with the Fort Wayne TinCaps (14-4) tomorrow night at Alliant Energy Field, first pitch scheduled for 6:30 PM. Listen to the game on AM 1390 KCLN in Clinton or live on the web at www.kcln.com.