November 23, 2002 Allentown Rips Arrojo a New One ALLENTOWN, NJ - Rolando Arrojo hasn't exactly endeered himself to Salem fans in this series. After begging out of Game Two with a tired arm, a fully rested and ready Arrojo proved that it didn't matter how much rest he had gotten. Arrojo was hammered for seven runs - all earned - on eight hits through just 4 1/3 innings today, allowing the Allentown Ridgebacks to tie this series at two games apiece. Salem drew first blood today, scoring a run in the second inning on a solo homer by Craig Wilson off Allentown starter Wade Miller. Arrojo ran into trouble in the third inning, when he allowed base hits to Mark Kotsay and Barry Bonds. Manny Ramirez then stepped to the plate with two outs and delivered a three-run "pitch-around" homer to put the R-Backs in the lead. Lance Berkman finally woke up from his coma in the fourth, hitting a two out solo homer to cut his team's deficit to one run. But Arrojo was back to his old tricks in the fifth, choking the life out of teammates by allowing a three-run home run to Bonds, following a double by relentless sparkplug Russ Johnson and a walk to Edgar Martinez. Arrojo followed that three-run blast by serving up a base hit to Manny Ramirez, ending his day. "I wanted to get him out of there early today, anyway," said Salem manager Mike Glander. "If this thing goes seven, I want to be sure he doesn't have any excuses for begging out again." Paul Wilson took over for Arrojo and picked up right where Arrojo left off, allowing a two-run homer to Robert Fick that made it an 8-2 game. Salem attempted to get back in the game in the sixth when Todd Helton doubled to put runners at second and third with one out. But as they have done so many times this season, the heart of the Salem lineup failed miserably in the clutch. Sammy Sosa whiffed, followed by a Lance Berkman ground out, ending the inning with two runs in scoring position. Wilson led off the next inning with his second home run of the game, and Ray Durham followed with a double, putting yet another runner in scoring position. This time, the Salem offense came through. Mike Cameron doubled off the dominant Mike Lincoln, scoring another Salem run, and David Eckstein followed with an RBI double of his own. Fortunately for Lincoln, that brought Todd Helton to the plate, who happily sat down on the bench, conceding the out, as he was obviously overmatched by the nasty repertoire of Allentown's Eck-in-the-making. In the eighth, Jose Mesa pitched an effortless scoreless inning, retiring Berkman, Wilson and Durham. Felix Rodriguez then closed out the ninth, retiring the side in order by striking out two of the three batters he faced.