Jose Almarante Silences Wingnuts Bats in 1-0 RedHawks Victory
If his last two starts are any indication, right-hander Jose Almarante is quickly proving that he has the kind of stuff that should carry him to affiliate baseball real soon. Five days after holding the St. Paul Saints to one-run in 6.2-innings of work, the right-hander blanked the Wichita Wingnuts for 8-innings to lead his team to a 1-0 victory.
Almarante was opposed by the Wingnuts’ Todd Kibby, and this was a great pitchers’ duel from the start. Neither offense was able to do anything through the first four-innings, as the two starters were absolutely amazing.
Through the first four-innings of the contest Almarante had retired the minimum, allowing only a first inning single to T.J. Mittelstaedt, who was picked off. The next hit would not come until the top of the fifth and the righty would only allow one more hit in the contest. That was in the seventh inning when Matt Chavez doubled with two outs. The only other runner he allowed was when Harrison Kain reached on an error in the eighth.
Almarante was pitching a real gem, which was quite necessary on this evening. Kibby was pitching a real gem as well. He allowed a walk in each of the first two innings, but did not give up a hit until one out in the fourth and that runner was erased on a double-play. In the fifth, the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks finally got on the board. Brian Humphries singled to start the inning, but was erased by a double-play. Next up was Mike Gilmartin, who drilled a 2-0 pitch for a homerun. For Gilmartin it was this third homerun in a RedHawks uniform. That made it 1-0 and that would be the first and only run of the game.
In the ninth, Colton Reavis came on to relieve. He allowed a two out single, but the runner was erased when he was caught trying to steal to end the game. That gave Reavis his sixth save of the year. Almarante moved to 3-1 and Kibby fell to 1-3.
The Wichita Wingnuts could only record four-hits on the evening, two each by Mittelstaedt and Zack Cox. The bottom five players in the RedHawks lineup each had a hit.
The Wichita Wingnuts now move onto Winnipeg to begin a four-game series against the Goldeyes. Alex Boshers (9-3, 3.02) starts the first game of the series. Kevin McGovern (5-2, 4.05) will start for the Winnipeg Goldeyes. First pitch is 7:00.
By Robert Pannier
