Jackals Stop Boulders At Yogi Berra Stadium

Francisco Caraballo’s RBI single keyed a four-run eighth-inning uprising to lead the New Jersey Jackals to a 6-4 victory over the at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, NJ.

The Boulders had led throughout the game and came up short in spite of a two-run homer by Ryan Scoma and a strong seven innings from starting pitcher Pat Moran.

Rockland took charge in the second inning off New Jersey starter Craig Clark, who had worked a perfect first. got the ball rolling with a well-hit double, and Ryan Scoma topped it with a blast over the center field fence to put his team up by a pair. With one out, walks to Matt Nandin and Cole Kraft set the table for back-to-back RBI singles by Orlando Mercado and Qualon Millender to put Rockland ahead, 4-0.

New Jersey wasted little time in responding off Moran in the bottom of the second as Francisco Caraballo doubled and scored on a Nick Giarraputo single. After advancing to second on the throw home, Giarraputo came around on a pair of grounders to cut the deficit in half at 4-2.

In spite of the early fireworks, the game became a pitchers’ duel thereafter, as Clark did not allow a run over the next four innings before turning the ball over to Jeff Gogal and Zach Woods. Moran, meanwhile, allowed just three hits over the next five tidy innings of work, which saw only one Jackals runner advance past first base while Moran threw just 71 pitches through seven.

The complexion of the game changed quickly in the eighth when, with one out, Bryan Sabatella and Angel Berroa recorded consecutive singles. That brought on left-hander Garret Johnson, who uncorked a wild pitch to cut the lead to 4-3 and moved the tying run to second. Matt Cusick singled that run home and advanced to second on the late throw to the plate. That would be a major factor when Caraballo’s third hit of the night put the hosts in front for the first time. Nick Giarraputo followed with an RBI double to provide an insurance run and put New Jersey up 6-4.

Woods picked up the win in relief to improve to 2-1, with Keith Cantwell recording his sixth save with a scoreless ninth inning. Johnson was tagged with the loss for Rockland to fall to 1-1. Scoma, Mollica and Phil Cuadrado had two hits each for the Boulders.

The Boulders return home to Provident Bank Park in Pomona today, Saturday, July 7 to start a four-game series that runs through Tuesday with the first-place Quebec Capitales.

The teams squared off one week ago in Canada, with the hosts from Quebec City coming up with the sweep as all three games were decided by a single run, the last two in walk-off fashion. Saturday at Provident Bank Park is , with the festivities starting with a 3:30 pm contest between the Irish National Baseball Team and the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), before the Boulders and Capitales take the field at 7 pm.

Boulders pick up new pitcher

The Rockland Boulders have acquired the rights to pitcher Gustavo Chacin from the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League.

Chacin’s rights were acquired via trade in exchange for future considerations, and the left-hander is expected to be activated today and to start that evening’s contest between the Boulders and the Quebec Capitales at Provident Bank Park.

Chacin, a native of Maracalbo, Zulia, Venezuela, was signed by Toronto as an undrafted free agent in 1998. After going 1-1 in two appearances as a September call-up for Toronto in 2004, he had an impressive rookie campaign the following season, going 13-9 with a 3.72 earned run average. He was twice named as American League Rookie of the Month, and finished fifth overall in Rookie of the Year balloting. His last stint in the majors was in 2010 with the Houston Astros, where all of his 44 appearances were in relief and he posted a 2-2 record with a 4.70 ERA.

He pitched at the AAA level as recently as last season, when he appeared for Buffalo in the New York Mets’ system and then Oklahoma City in the Astros’ organization. With Long Island this season, he was 2-2 with a 3.93 ERA in nine starts, allowing 48 hits while striking out 32 batters in 50.1 innings of work.

Rockland will be required to execute a roster move to make room for Chacin, with that transaction to be announced in advance of today's contest. 

For Chacin’s full career statistics as well as video clips, click here to visit his page from MLB.com.