Z's Win Third Straight, Take Series From Iowa

The New Orleans Zephyrs extended their winning streak to three games by beating the Iowa Cubs 3-1 Tuesday afternoon at Zephyr Field.

Willie Glen (1-1) pitched five innings in an unexpected start, allowing only a solo home run to So Taguchi in the first inning. Ryan Tucker was scheduled to start, but was a late scratch with a sore back.

Brett Carroll set the tone early for the Zephyr offense, leading off the first inning with a double, and later scoring on a throwing error by Iowa pitcher J.R. Mathes. Carroll also added a solo home run in the third to put the Zephyrs up 2-1.

Brett Hayes was 1-for-3 with an RBI single in the fourth inning that scored Jai Miller to make the score 3-1.

The two-run lead would be more than enough for the Zephyr bullpen, as three relievers combined to throw four shutout innings. Nate Field threw a scoreless ninth to get his second save in as many games, and ninth for the season. It was his 22nd career save as a Zephyr, moving him into fourth place on the club's all-time list.

The Zephyrs leave for an eight game roadtrip that takes them to the West Coast. John Koronka (LHP) will face off against Matt Kinney (RHP) of the Fresno Grizzlies with the first pitch scheduled for 9:05 CDT.

August 3 - Zephyrs 3, Iowa 2

Neil Wilson provided the dramatics Monday night with a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth to lead the New Orleans Zephyrs past the Iowa Cubs 3-2.

The Zephyrs got their first two batters in the ninth on base when Gookie Dawkins reached on an error by Iowa shortstop Aaron Miles and Gaby Sanchez drew a walk. John Lindsey then singled to right field, but John-Ford Griffin threw out Gookie Dawkins at the plate. Brett Carroll then struck out swinging and Jai Miller was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Wilson was previously hitless on the night, going 0-for-4 before driving home the winning run. It was the sixth walk-off victory of the year for the Zephyrs.

Jai Miller fell a triple short of the cycle as he reached base in all five of his plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with two walks and a home run. John Lindsey chipped in three hits of his own to help pace the Z's.

Willie Collazo turned in another solid performance for the Zephyrs despite not factoring in the decision. He pitched eight innings, allowing only two runs on five hits.

Nate Field (5-3) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to get the win.

The two teams will wrap up their four game series Tuesday afternoon at 11 30 am when Ryan Tucker (RHP) takes on J.R. Mathes (LHP).

August 2 - Zephyrs 3, Iowa 1

The New Orleans Zephyrs got a strong performance from starting pitcher Clay Hensley, and they were able to put together enough offense to top the Iowa Cubs 3-1 at Zephyr Field Sunday night.

Hensley (6-2) turned in a solid outing for the Z's, allowing only one run on four hits over his eight innings of work. He pitched efficiently all night, needing only 95 pitches as he lowered his ERA to 3.98 on the season.

The lone run Hensley allowed to score came in the fourth inning. After walking the first two batters of the inning, he was able to get Matt Craig to ground into a force out at second base. Bobby Scales then hit into a 3-6 double play, but Matt Camp was able to cross the plate before Gookie Dawkins tagged out Craig to end the inning.

Gaby Sanchez broke the Zephyrs' scoring drought by crushing a solo home run over the left field wall in the bottom of the fourth inning. The blast ended a string of 13 innings in which the Zephyrs managed just one hit. Sanchez also drew two walks on the night.

New Orleans took the lead in the sixth after Gookie Dawkins walked with two outs then stole second base. After an intentional walk to Sanchez, Michael Ryan singled to centerfield, scoring Dawkins to make the score 2-1.

The Z's added another run on a wild pitch by Blake Parker in the eighth extending their lead to 3-1, and Jay Buente pitched a scoreless ninth to secure the win.

The two teams will meet again at Zephyr Field Monday night at 7 pm with Willie Collazo (LHP) taking the mound for New Orleans.

August 1 - Iowa 14, Zephyrs 0

What started out as a low scoring affair quickly turned into a 14-0 rout as the Iowa Cubs beat the New Orleans Zephyrs Saturday night in the worst shutout loss in the history of Zephyr Field.

New Orleans managed only one hit on the night, a single by Cameron Maybin in the fourth inning. The team was 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.

Iowa pounded out 19 hits in the game, including multi-hit efforts from six different players. Chris Robinson led the way for the Cubs by going 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored.

Hayden Penn (0-3) took the loss for the Z's despite turning in a quality start. He allowed just three runs in his six innings of work, but the bullpen was not as effective.

Over the final three innings, the Zephyr bullpen allowed 11 runs on 11 hits as the Cubs sent 25 batters to the plate. Carlos Vasquez gave up four runs in two-thirds of an inning before being relieved by Jarrett Santos. Santos allowed three runs in the eighth, and Nate Field let in four more in the ninth, capped by a three-run homer by Bobby Scales.

The two teams will meet again Sunday night with Clay Hensley (RHP) taking on Casey Fossum (LHP) with the first pitch scheduled for 6 pm.