NEWARK, NJ - It was a rare night for the Newark Bears, who could not get their offense rolling beyond the first couple of innings. Some late rallies were ended by their inability to hit with runners in scoring position, which has been a strength all season long. The Bridgeport Bluefish out-lasted the Bears 6-4 on Monday night at The Den.

Bridgeport took an early 3-0 lead in the second inning when Jesse Hoorelbeke led-off with a home run. Starter David Pellegrine then hit Ryan Bear and allowed a double to Branden Florence. Travis Ezi’s double to center field brought home Bear and Florence was called safe on a very close play at the plate.

The Bears fought back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. Cory Aldridge and Val Majewski hit back-to-back solo home runs to cut the lead to 3-2.

Newark took the lead in the following inning. Bobby Hill led off with a single and Ramon Castro followed him with a walk. Jose Herrera’s base-hit up the middle plated Hill and Majewski came up and knocked in Castro to give the Bears a 4-3 lead.

Bridgeport re-tied the game in the fourth when Alex Prieto, who was on second with a double, came in on a Henry Mateo single.

After loading up the bases in the fifth with no one out, Pellegrine was lifted in favor of Cory Willey. After giving up a run-scoring single, Willey was able to induce a short fly-out and then a double play to escape further damage.

Hoorelbeke struck again in the sixth inning, hitting his second home run of the game, another solo shot, giving Bridgeport a 6-4 lead.

Bridgeport starter Rafael Bergstom settled down after a rough first couple of innings to pick up the win. He kept the Newark lineup off-balance in the second-half of his outing.

“The last time we faced him [Bergstom] it was the same thing,” said manager Wayne Krenchicki. “We scored some early runs and then he settled down and threw a lot of change-ups and we didn’t do anything against after we scored early.”

The Bears were unable to re-gain any ground. Newark got a runner into scoring position in each of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but couldn’t find the hit to bring the runner home.

A lead-off walk in the ninth by Castro was erased by a double play and then a two-out single by Aldridge when to waste with a game-ending groundout.

“You have to give a lot of credit to the pitching tonight,” said Krenchicki. “We have been very good with runners in scoring position and runners in scoring position with two outs, so you have to give their staff credit.”

Notes: The Bears lost for just the fifth time at home this season. They are 13-5 at Riverfront Stadium, while just 9-9 on the road. With his 2-for-4 night, Aldridge is now hitting exactly .400 on the season. He is 56-for-140 with six home runs and 35 RBIs. His batting average and RBI total lead the Atlantic League. Hoorelbeke’s two home runs gave him nine on the season, also an Atlantic League leader.

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