Jesmuel Valentin made his debut with the Threshers last night. He singled in his first at bat, stole second, and scored on a Brian Pointer single.  That was his last impact on scoring in the game until the bottom of the eighth inning.

Due to a rain out on Monday, two 7-inning games were scheduled Tuesday.  The start time was pushed back by afternoon rains again.  The Threshers took a quick 1-0 lead on Pointer’s single mentioned above.  They re-took the lead on Pointer’s opposite field, 2-run home run in the third inning.  Pointer leads the team with 14 home runs and 49 RBIs.

Meanwhile, Miguel Nunez battled and was finally lifted with 2 outs in the fourth inning and the bases loaded.  Cody Forsythe recorded the final out of the inning on a pop up to shallow center.  Nelson Prada left Forsythe in to close out the game.  Looked good until with 2 out and 2 strikes, Kyle Schwarber clubbed a game-tying home run to right in the botttom of the seventh inning.

Lee Ridenhour took the loss in the eighth innng on a routine ground ball to second.  Ridenhour walked Bill McKinney with one out.  The next batter hit a slow ground ball to Valentin at second.  He flipped the ball to Crawford to start the inning-ending double play.  Then all hell broke loose.  Valentin’s flip pulled Crawford off the bag, runner safe on the Valentin throwing error.  Chris Serritella could not handle Crawford’s throw at first, batter safe on Crawford’s throwing error.  Serritella retrieved the ball and chased down the batter to tag him out for the second out.  Meanwhile, Gabriel drifts up the line toward first base, allowing McKinney to continue home to score the game-winning run without a throw.

In another oddity, the Threshers’ line up included 7 left-handed hitters/switch hitters against the Cubs right-handed starter.  The Cubs line up featured 9 left-handed batters against the right-handed Nunez.  This in part probably explains Prada’s trying to get 7 outs out of Forsythe.

Prada’s other two bullpen lefties pitched in the night cap, Lino Martinez started and Ethan Martin relieved and got the win.  Ulises Joaquin picked up the save.  Roman Quinn went 2-2 with 2 walks, 2 runs scored, and his 29th stolen base.  Art Charles took the team lead in home runs with his 15th of the season.  Valentin and Pointer went 0-3 in the second game.  Crawford got the game off.