David Whigham threw a complete-game, four-hit shutout on Friday night as the El Paso Diablos defeated the Cats 5-0 at Cohen Stadium.
Whigham at one point retired 12 straight batters as he struck out eight and walked three in the complete-game effort. It was his first career complete game as he improved his record on the year to 3-0.
The Diablos got on the board first as with one out Arnoldo Ponce doubled to right. One batter later, Jorge Alvarez singled to center, scoring Ponce to give El Paso the lead.
El Paso added to its lead in the sixth inning as Ponce led off with an infield single and later came home to score on an Alvarez triple to right-center. Alvarez was 2-for-3 in the game with two runs batted in.
The Diablos got two more in the seventh inning as Gerardo Verastegui drew a one-out walk, went to third on a double by Mike Provencher and came home to score on an RBI single by Ponce. El Paso added it's fifth run as Provenhcer came into score on a balk committed by Joel Kirsten.
Kirsten (4-1) took his first loss of the season as he allowed five runs on 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings of work.
Fort Worth's Pat O'Sullivan had two hits in the game as he extended his hitting streak to 16 games, longest in the league this season.
The loss snapped a modest two-game winning streak for the Cats as their league-best record fell to 25-8. The series with El Paso continues on Saturday night at 8:05 p.m. CDT.
