Cats sunk at home

Pitching help can’t arrive soon enough for the Border Cats.

A night after allowing 14 runs to the first-place Waterloo Bucks, the Cats were slammed for a baker’s dozen against the last place Alexandria Blue Anchors on Saturday, dropping their fourth straight Northwoods League contest 13-6 at Subway Field.

The Blue Anchors, who had just seven wins in 29 games entering the contest, scored in every inning but the sixth against a Thunder Bay team whose earned run average has vaulted over the six-run-a-game mark on a home-stand that’s seen them give up 33 runs in three games.

Starter Jordan Church was the latest victim for the Cats (11-20), charged with 10 runs on eight hits before exiting with one out in the fifth, trailing 10-3 at the time.

It was his third loss in three decisions and the Cats sixth in seven outings.

Aaron Gretz, whose three-run blast in the third turned a tight two-run game into a 6-1 laugher, said with two clubs at the bottom of the NWL’s ERA chart, both sides knew it probably wasn’t going to be a 1-0 pitcher’s duel.

“We’re a lot alike and coming in we all knew it was going to be a high-scoring game. But our pitchers really executed against their hitters and we hit the ball around. That was the difference,” said Gretz, whose blast was his fourth homer of the season.

Things started going awry for the Cats in the first, when the Blue Anchors (8-22) pulled off a double steal that actually wound up scoring two runs on the play.

Ryan Blanchard singled to put runners on the corners, then took off for second, drawing a throw from Thunder Bay catcher Jacob Rogers. Georgie Salem took off from third, the throw from shortstop Philip Lyons sailing to the backstop and out of play, allowing Blanchard to trot home for the 2-0 lead.

Church walked Andrew Sohn with the bases loaded in the second to score Gretz with Alexandria’s third run.

Lyons scored on an Alex Bautista ground up to snap Mickie Keuning’s early shutout bid in the second, and added two more in the bottom of the third, Rogers and Lyons picking up RBIs.

Salem homered to lead off the fourth and then Blanchard singled, advanced two bases on successive wild pitches and cruised home when Rogers uncorked a wild throw to third that sailed into left field. Alexandria added two more in the fifth in support of Keuning, who went six strong, allowing just three runs on seven hits while walking four.

The Cats bats came back to life in the eighth, but it was too little, too late.

Cory Kay, Thunder Bay’s leading hitter with a .327 average, doubled home Bautista and Joey Hawkins, followed shortly after by Tyler Stetson, who came home on a Scott Sanderson wild pitch.

Zach Thiac took over pitching duties in the fifth for Thunder Bay, giving up a pair of runs in 3.2 innings of work. Cam Wood mopped up in the ninth, allowing an unearned run when Kay dropped a deep fly ball.

Claw marks: Paid attendance was 850, most of whom stayed for the post-game fireworks display … Former Cats shortstop Jonathan Diaz, who played with the team in their 2005 championship season, made his major league debut on Saturday, going 0-for-3 with a run scored in Boston’s 6-2 loss to Toronto. He’s just the second former Border Cats player to make the big leagues, following Matt Mangini.