Rockets hold on

After their starter was tossed in the fifth inning, the pitching for the Portland Rockets got shaky.

But despite relievers giving up 11 walks in the second half of the game, the Rockets had enough offense to power a 10-6 win Tuesday over the Shady Nook Jackers.

After a couple hit batsmen on both sides and a brush-back pitch, Rockets starting pitcher Billy Geeslin was thrown out of the game after a verbal altercation with one of the Jackers, who was also ejected, during a routine ground ball play.

A later incident led to the Shady Nook starting hurler getting tossed as well as the visitors' manager - but the more noticeable effect it had was the disruption it caused in the Portland pitching.

After Geeslin allowed just one run four and two-thirds innings, five relievers for the Rockets struggled to find the strike zone. They combined for 11 walks and another the rest of the way.

On the game, the Rockets handed over 16 free bases on 13 walks and three bean balls, compared to only four hits earned by the Jackers.

"We walked 13?" Rockets coach Randy Miller asked postgame. "Unbelievable. That is not acceptable.

"These guys are a little rusty. We can call it the rain, we can call it the clay on the mound, we can call it the umpire, but we will get better. Our guys are gamers.

"That's pitching with traffic and you've got to make the adjustment and get the ball over the plate so we can play defense."

The Rockets opened with two runs in the first before the Jackers tied it up in the top of the third after a pair of Portland errors. Portland regained the lead on an RBI single from Riley Muhlenkamp and tacked on two more in the fourth as Michael Ingram drew a based-loaded walk and Muhlenkamp was hit by a pitch.

Attitudes flared up in the fifth when Geeslin and Shady Nook's Richard Berich were tossed. Shady Nook's starter was tossed in the bottom of the inning after plunking pinch hitter Brandon VanMatre with his first pitch.

Chris Tillery blasted a two-run double down the first base line in the fifth, and the Rockets added two more on a passed ball and a double steal.

Then in the seventh the walk trouble began to flare up. Reliever Bryant Cook surrendered two walks followed by a two-run double after getting two outs.

Tyler Palmer relieved Cook but couldn't come up with the last out, walking two batters to load the bases and then giving up a run on a balk. He walked the next batter to load the bases again, then walked in a fourth run during the inning.

Tyler Mills relieved Palmer and nabbed the last out in the six-walk seventh, but got into trouble in the eighth as he loaded the bases with one out. The Rockets, however, escaped the inning when Tillery turned a double play, tagging the passing runner at second before tossing to first.

Rockets reliever Derek Mounsey put two men on in the ninth with a base hit and a walk, but managed to shut down any last-inning spark from the Jackers.

The Rockets did bring their bats Tuesday, racking up 11 hits. Ingram had two singles and reached base four times, driving in a run and scoring twice. John Clawson added two singles and two runs, and Muhlenkamp had a single and two RBIs.

"Our guys stayed the course and we won the game because we executed better than they did," Miller said. "Our guys started to come around, we're undefeated (3-0) at home.

"That little Tillery guy made that big double play at second base," he said. "The adversity was starting to set in and he had that big double down the line with the bases full and drove in two. That's the kind of bats we're looking for - guys who compete, that have no fear, swing it, make it happen."[[In-content Ad]]