(Press Release)
The Southern Illinois Miners won their sixth game in a row, seventh in their last eight games, and 399th as a franchise by score of 2-0 over the Joliet Slammers on Tuesday night at Rent One Park.
Right-hander Miguel Ramirez (2-1) turned in a stellar outing, pitching eight-plus innings of shutout baseball, allowing seven hits and one walk in getting the victory in his second start against Joliet this season. His first was also a scoreless outing, lasting 6 1/3 innings on May 17th. He tossed just 85 pitches in the game, including three innings with less than 10 offerings each.
The Miners scored both of their runs in the third inning on one swing. Chris Burke’s triple to the wall in left-center field plated Jon Eisen and Jose Gonzalez to make the score 2-0 Southern Illinois, and that was all the Miners needed.
After throwing just 83 pitches in the first eight innings, Ramirez came out to start the ninth. Joliet’s Russell Moldenhauer greeted him with a leadoff double, which prompted a pitching change with the tying run coming to the plate. Derrick Miramontes then got the final three outs for his fourth save of the season.
For the Miners, Eisen extended his hitting streak to eight games in a row, while the Miners won game number 399 in their history, moving to two games over .500 at 9-7.
They will go for the series win and their 400th victory as a franchise on Wednesday night, sending Rick Teasley to the mound against the Slammers’ Matt Dillon. First pitch at Rent One Park is set for 7:05 p.m.
The Southern Illinois Miners are the 2012 Frontier League Champions and have been awarded the Frontier League Organization of the Year award three times since their inception. They also set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007, their inaugural season. For ticket information, please contact the Rent One Park box office at 618-998-8499. For any additional information, visit our website at www.southernillinoisminers.com.
