Perez delivers Baby Cakes walk-off win over Isotopes

METAIRIE – Eury Perez delivered a two-out single in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the New Orleans Baby Cakes a 6-5, walk-off win over the Albuquerque Isotopes on Monday night.

It is the first walk-off win of the season for the ‘Cakes, who have won 12 of their last 16 games at the Shrine on Airline.

With the score deadlocked 5-5, the Baby Cakes strung together three consecutive singles with two outs. Brian Anderson’s roller up the middle started the rally against Austin House (6-2), and Cal Towey roped a single to right to put runners on the corners for Perez, who slapped House’s first pitch into left field for the game-winner.

The teams went back-and-forth throughout the night, with the Baby Cakes scoring in four straight innings to twice overcome deficits.

Albuquerque jumped in front with a pair of runs in the second, as Jordan Patterson stroked an RBI triple before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Cristhian Adames.

Towey responded with a home run leading off the bottom of the inning, and Anderson went deep an inning later to knot the score. It was Anderson’s fifth home run in 20 Triple-A games, and his 19th of the season overall.

Austin Nola drew a leadoff walk in the fourth, moved to third on a one-out single by Steve Lombardozzi and trotted home on an error by Patterson to give the ‘Cakes a short-lived lead.

Ryan McMahon launched his 13th home run with two outs in the fifth to put the Isotopes ahead, 4-3, only for New Orleans to again take advantage of a leadoff walk in the bottom half, as Towey came home on Nola’s two-out infield single.

The Isotopes went back ahead in the eighth when Rosell Herrera led off with a single and scored two batters later when Anderson threw wildly to first on a bunt attempt.

But Albuquerque repaid the favor in the ninth, when the ‘Cakes tied the game without hitting the ball out of the infield on a walk and two bunts, the latter of which was thrown away by catcher Tony Wolters for a run-scoring error. New Orleans had the bases loaded with one out and attempted to score Perez on Lombardozzi’s lineout to shallow right, but Noel Cuevas made a strong throw to the plate in time to nab Perez and send the game to extra innings.

The Baby Cakes left the bases loaded twice, and stranded 14 baserunners on the night before Perez’s heroics in the 10th.

The ‘Cakes and Isotopes continue the four-game set on Tuesday at 7 p.m.