Eau Claire, WI – June 25, 2009. The Madison Mallards’ bats had no answer for Eau Claire starting pitcher Rudy Jaramillo (3-0) as the team lost its fifth game in a row Thursday night 3-1 to the Express at Carson Park in game two of a doubleheader. The Express won game one by a score of 7-4 thanks to Brooks Pinckard’s (Baylor) go-ahead grand slam in the fourth inning to give his team a 5-4 lead at the time.
The latest loss widens the cap between the Mallards (16-11) and Express (18-5) to four games with seven games left in the first half. These same two teams will square off again Friday night at Carson Park with game time slated to begin at 6:35 p.m.
Jaramillo (New Mexico) allowed only one run in six innings while striking out four batters. The crafty left-hander’s only blemish was his four walks, but they didn’t hurt as he was able to induce three Mallard double plays to get out of jams. Jaramillo lowered his season ERA to 1.49.
Meanwhile, the Mallards season-long strikeout machine, Matt Morgan (Purdue) suffered his first loss of the year (2-1), by default mostly, after allowing three runs (0 earned) on 5 hits in 5.2 innings. It didn’t help that Madison committed five errors on the night by four different players.
Right hander Denny Clement (Texas A&M) was brought in with two outs in the sixth inning and struck out a batter for the final out to keep his ERA at 0.00.
The Mallards lone run was scored in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by center fielder Kurtis Muller (Iowa) to score Adam McClain (Memphis).
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Fans, the Mallards return home this Saturday, Sunday, and Tuesday, and there are plenty of good seats still available! Check it out for yourself by clicking here or by calling us at 608.246.4277 today!
