Lightning delays Isotopes game
8/16/2008
ALBUQUERQUE — The rain chased almost all of the 8,402 fans from the seats, but Memphis and Albuquerque played through the drops Saturday night at Isotopes Park.
Until the lightning.
That forced an automatic 30-minute delay at 9:11 p.m., with Memphis leading 7-3 with one on and one out in the top of the eighth inning.
With the completion of one game already piggy-backing a regularly scheduled game today, "let's play three" seemed out of the question.
It was.
The game resumed at 10:22. Memphis was one out away from victory when Robert Andino drilled a two-run double and Tommy Murphy followed with a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings as The New Mexican went to press.
Prior to the Isotopes taking the field for the first game of their final homestand of the 2008 Pacific Coast League baseball season, Paul Lo Duca was called up to the Florida Marlins, the Isotopes' parent club.
Lo Duca, 36, played in seven games with Albuquerque before his promotion Saturday. The four-time National League All-Star catcher batted .423 with a double and seven runs batted in.
It will be Lo Duca's second stint with the Marlins. He began his Major League career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who traded him for right-handed pitcher Brad Penny in 2004. The Marlins dealt Lo Duca to the New York Mets after the 2005 season.
The Washington Nationals signed Lo Duca to a $5 million, one-year contract in December 2007. In 46 games, Lo Duca batted .230 with 12 RBIs. He was released in July.
MEMPHIS REDBIRDS VS. ALBUQUERQUE ISOTOPES
When: 4:30 p.m. Today
Where: Isotopes Park
Probable pitchers: RHP John Wasdin (8-6, 3.95) vs. Jarrett Santos (0-0, 0.00)
On air: KNML-610 AM