SANFORD—You can’t win them all, even though for much the last two weeks, the Sanford Mainers did just that.

Thursday, however, the Mainers’ eight-game winning streak came to a screeching halt, after absorbing a 12-1 hammering supplied by the Newport Gulls before 417 spectators at Goodall Park.

“We came out ready to play tonight,” said first baseman Bob Stumpo. “We expected to win tonight. It just didn’t go that way for us.”

The first sign of trouble surfaced in the bottom of the first inning.

Sanford squandered a two-out, bases-loaded opportunity when Newport starter Stephen Peterson struck out Stumpo looking.

“I had an awful at bat,” said Stumpo, expressing the mea culpa. “I’ve got to put the ball in play there with the bases loaded. That’s a kick in the butt.”

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Matters worsened somewhat in the top of the second when Newport scored twice against Mainers starter Andrew Guarassi.

Guarassi’s teammates did him no favors, having committed two errors in that inning.

The Mainers managed to draw to within a run, 2-1, in the bottom of the third, after Matt Marra worked Newport starter Stephen Peterson for a lead off walk.

Marra stole both second and third, before scampering home when Peterson unleashed a wild pitch.

However, the respite was a brief one.

Newport sent 10 men to the plate in the top of the fifth, and scored five runs to rip open a 7-1 lead.

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The Mainers didn’t mount a serious threat after that.

“We haven’t had one of these this year,” said Sanford manager Aaron Izaryk. “You never like to be due for (a blowout). It was a letdown game. Nothing was going to change in the standings.

“We didn’t play our best baseball by any means. But we had some guys play pretty hard.”

CHIN MUSIC: The Mainers will wrap up the regular season today (2:30 p.m.) with a rare triple-header against the Manchester Silkworms. The extra baseball is a result of earlier rain interruptioins, with the first game a completion of the July 23 contest that was suspended in the bottom of the sixth inning, with the score tied, 1-1.

A pair of seven inning games will follow.

Dates for the Mainers’ best of three East Division semifinal series with the North Shore Navigators have been set.

Sanford will host Game 1 on Sunday (6:35 p.m.), then travel to Fraser Field in Lynn, Mass. on Monday (7 p.m.) for Game 2. If Game 3 is needed, it will be played at Goodall Park on Tuesday (6:35 p.m.).

Mike Roth, normally a first baseman, was pressed into service on the mound late in the game to help preserve the Mainers bullpen. Roth responded by eating up 1 2/3 innings. It was the first time this season that Izaryk had used a position player to mop up. However, pitching isn’t completely out of character for Roth, who did plenty of hurling as a freshman at the University of South Carolina this spring.

— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.



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