Z's bullpen falters in RedHawks rally

The recent struggles of the New Orleans Zephyrs' bullpen continued on Thursday night, as the Z's could not protect a 3-0 lead in the seventh inning, allowing the Oklahoma City RedHawks to bat around and score four times to rally past New Orleans, 4-3.

Zephyrs starter Brad Hand carried a shutout into the seventh, but an infield single by J.B. Shuck loaded the bases with two outs, prompting manager Ron Hassey to call for Evan Reed from the bullpen.

Reed issued a walk to Brandon Barnes to force in a run, and Angel Sanchez's chopper to shortstop could not be fielded cleanly by Donnie Murphy, scoring a second run.

Fernando Martinez followed with a two-run single off the glove of third baseman Mike Cervenak, vaulting Oklahoma City into the lead.

Mickey Storey and David Carpenter combined to retire the final six Zephyrs batters, completing the RedHawks' come-from-behind victory. Oklahoma City has beaten the Zephyrs four times in the last six games, with each of the wins coming by one run.

RedHawks starter Paul Clemens retired the first 10 batters he faced before giving up a one-out walk to Murphy in the fourth inning. Murphy moved to third on a single by Cervenak and later scored on a single by Bryan Petersen.

New Orleans extended the lead to 3-0 in the fifth on Luke Montz's two-run homer. Montz has homered six times in the last 12 games, and now ranks third in the Pacific Coast League with 19 home runs.

Hand cruised through the first six innings, but was saddled with a no-decision. The southpaw ran his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 15 2/3 before the RedHawks' seventh-inning rally.

Reed (1-1) gave up three hits and one run in 1 1/3 innings to take the loss. Hector Ambriz (1-0) worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for Oklahoma City and was credited with the win.

The Zephyrs and RedHawks continue the series with a 7:05 p.m. game on Friday. The Z's will start right-hander Omar Poveda against RedHawks righty Bran Bass.