Japa's Six No Hit Innings Lift Baby Bombers Over IronBirds

STATEN ISLAND, NY- On a night former Yankee closer Goose Gossage threw out the first pitch, starter Rolando Japa shutdown the Ironbirds (4-3)- holding them without a hit in six sparkling innings to lift Staten Island (5-3) to a 5-1 victory in front of 2,591 at Richmond County Ball Park Tuesday night.

"He [Japa] was terrific," a very pleased manager Gaylen Pitts said. "He commanded his fastball right off the bat. Threw strikes. Got ahead of the hitters and that allowed him to use all his pitches. His curveball was pretty sharp. Mixed in some changeups. So they couldn't just zero in on one pitch....Very good outing for him. He oughta take a lot of confidence out of that."

"Japa was awesome today and definitely kept us in the game. That's all you ask for your pitchers. He definitely had a hell of a day," first base slugger Kyle Larsen added.

Remarkably, it was the Ironbirds who pushed across the first run in the second inning. Taking advantage of a one out walk, Paul Winterling stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored when catcher Francisco Cervilli's errant throw went into left field. Despite the tough luck, Japa responded by retiring 12 straight and 14 of the last 15 he faced.

"I knew I was going to do well because I was pitching at a level higher than this before," said Japa (2-0), who was on a pitch count after striking out four Ironbirds to even the three-game series.

"I was sent here because I was doing something wrong and I'm doing well now. So I feel better because I fixed the problem. I know I'm going to do well."

It didn't take long for the Baby Bombers to tie it, striking back in the bottom half of the second on a two out Brian Aragon RBI single which plated Tony Roth.

"I was just trying to make contact. Try not to overswing and I'm in a situation in the lineup where I got some good guys around and I got some good pitches to hit tonight," the left fielder said.

"That was big time. Especially that last one he got that made it a four run game," Pitts pointed out of Aragon who also delivered another clutch two out runscoring single in the seventh which gave Staten Island some insurance. "Two outs are big but when they have an RBI on top of it, that makes it even better. Those were two big RBI's."

Also coming up with a big hit was Larsen. After failing with the bases loaded and two out in the third, he atoned two innings later in a similar situation with a go ahead two-run single to make it 3-1, giving his ball club the lead for good.

"I've been struggling a little bit lately and it's just nice to give your team a chance to win," the first baseman said. "I was down 0-2 and I was just like, 'Just put the ball in play and hopefully good things will happen.' That's what I did."

With nobody still out in the fifth and two runners on, Roth followed with an RBI single to put them up by three. It was all part of a big night for the third baseman who went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases and two runs scored.

"He [Roth] had an awesome night. He's a real good player and he's just been waiting for his opportunity to play and hasn't been playing on a steady basis," Larsen noted. "He definitely came out and proved that he should be out there everyday."

"Roth had a big night. He was aggressive at the plate and ran the bases aggressive," Pitts said. "He's one of those high energy guys who can give you a shot in the arm when he's out there. So he was trying to impress the manager I think."

One thing that stood out in the victory for the Baby Bombers was the five stolen bases they had. "We're going to be that way. If they're going to give it to us, we're going to try to take it," Pitts said regarding his ball club's aggressive play which paid off.

"We got guys that aren't afraid, aren't afraid of getting picked off and that's half the battle. When you're on the bases, you can't be afraid to make a mistake."

Notes: Before Gossage tossed the ceremonial first pitch, the Staten Island Yankees paid tribute to his career by showing a special video on the Diamondvision. The former Bronx Bomber closer received a loud ovation from the crowd. ... The Ironbirds first hit didn't come till Chris Vinyard hit a one out seventh inning double off Staten Island reliever Luke Trubee. Trubee tossed two scoreless, fanning two before turning it over to closer Nick Peterson, who struckout the side in a nonsave situation to end the game. ... The series concludes later tonight with the rubber game set for 7:05 PM at St. George.