Corcoran, Isotopes Club Cubs 8-3
Corcoran (2-0) cruised through seven innings, his longest outing of the season at any level, allowing just one run on a mere three hits while walking two and striking out seven en route to his second win in a row. The right-hander allowed just one Cub to advance past first while tossing an extremely efficient 78 pitches, 47 of which went for strikes.
The 'Topes jumped out to a quick lead for their starter in the top of the third when Blake DeWitt roped a double to right and immediately scored on a base hit by Mitch Jones to put Albuquerque up 1-0.
Corcoran's only blemish on the entire night came in the bottom of the third and was relatively self-inflicted. Darwin Barney led off the frame with a single and was sacrificed into scoring position by a perfect bunt from pitcher Ezequiel Astacio. As Corcoran started his wind up to the next batter, So Taguchi, the 'Topes hurler slipped off the rubber for a balk, sending Barney to third for Taguchi, who singled to right, easily scoring Barney and knotting the game at 1-1.
That was the cue for the Isotopes offense to erupt, which it did to the tune of a run in the fourth and a five-spot in the sixth. Dee Brown helped propel Albuquerque back into the lead by leading off the fourth with a double, his team-record 34th on the year, and promptly scoring on a double by J.D. Closser to put the Isotopes back on top 2-1.
Albuquerque then opened up a commanding lead in the big sixth in a rally started by Tony Abreu, who roped a bases-loaded single to left that plated Brown and Chin-Lung Hu, to help the 'Topes open up a 4-1 edge. Luis Maza then sent a sacrifice fly to center, plating Closser to up the advantage to 5-1 and setting up DeWitt, who crushed a triple to right, scoring Abreu and increasing the lead to 6-1. As DeWitt slid into third, the relay throw from the outfield by second baseman Matt Camp bounded past third baseman Nate Spears, allowing DeWitt to walk home with the inning's fifth run.
The 'Topes tacked on one more run for good measure in the seventh, when Hector Luna led off the inning with a walk, advanced to third on the second double of the night by Brown, and scored on a single by Hu to give Albuquerque a commanding 8-1 cushion.
Iowa did score a pair of runs in the eighth on an RBI double by Barney and a sac fly by Doug Deeds, but that's all the Isotopes bullpen would allow, as Brent Leach and Marlon Arias finished off the game with an inning apiece, sending the 'Topes to the 8-3 win.
Albuquerque looks for its third straight win in corn country tomorrow behind right-hander J.D. Durbin (0-5, 6.91), who will battle Iowa lefty James Russell (3-3, 3.27) in a 12:05 PM MT start from Principal Park.
After their trip to Des Moines for a four-game set against the Cubs, the 'Topes return home to kick off the 2009 PCL Playoffs at Isotopes Park on Wednesday, September 9.
Tickets for any Isotopes game may be purchased at the Isotopes Park Box Office, at Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 1-800-745-3000, or on-line www.albuquerquebaseball.com or www.ticketmaster.com. For more information or for a complete list of 2009 promotions visit www.albuquerquebaseball.com.