Taubenheim, Cats two-hit Rock Cats

In just over a year, Ty Taubenheim has pitched in the Majors, Triple-A and, now, Double-A. It sounds like he'll be climbing back up the ladder pretty soon.

Taubenheim (2-1) combined with Jo Matumoto on a two-hitter Wednesday as the New Hampshire Fisher Cats rolled to a 12-0 thumping of the visiting New Britain Rock Cats.

The 24-year-old right-hander gave up both hits and two walks while fanning five over a season-high eight innings. He allowed a one-out double to Felix Molina in the third and a leadoff single to David Winfree in the eighth.

It was the his third consecutive solid outing for the Fisher Cats (65-64) after going 4-7 with a 6.37 ERA in 16 starts for Triple-A Syracuse. He's given up only four runs while striking out 18 in 19 1/3 innings in the Eastern League.

"Something down here clicked," Taubenheim said. "My first start gave me a lot of confidence. The change of scenery helped."

Despite the string of solid outings for New Hampshire, it's been a trying year for Taubenheim, who is learning how to cope with failure for the first time in his professional career.

"There have been so many emotions, so many ups and downs [this year]. It's the first year I've really struggled. It's been one big slump," said Taubenheim, who was 25-16 with a 3.13 ERA in the Minors prior to this year.

But the 2003 19th-round draft pick was staying positive through it all.

"You can take it both ways," he said. "You can be bitter or upset or you can make a choice and say that you're not going to be forgotten. You can work your way back if a bad thing happens."

Matumoto struck out one in a perfect ninth.

Sergio Santos smacked a solo homer in the seventh and cranked a two-run shot, his 20th, in the eighth. It was the third two-homer game of the year for the 24-year-old shortstop, who also doubled and scored a season-high four runs.

David Smith, Ryan Klosterman and Aaron Mathews each drove in two runs for New Hampshire.

Rock Cats starter Oswaldo Sosa (1-4) gave up four runs on four hits and two walks with four strikeouts in five innings. The 21-year-old right-hander has lost four of his last five starts for the New Britain (60-65).