They ventured into the ominous realm of extra innings for the eighth time this season -- the fifth time against the New Haven Ravens. In the first seven, they trudged off the field unfulfilled.

Friday looked like another unproductive endeavor. They trailed by two runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. They trailed by two runs in the bottom of the 12th. But thanks to a pair of very generous gifts from their downstate rivals, the dry spell is over.

A two-base error by third baseman Shawn Fagan opened up the gates in the 12th inning, allowing the Rock Cats to end their frustration with a 5-4 win before an announced crowd of 6,149 at New Britain Stadium.

"The 0-7 record in extra innings weighed heavy on my mind," Rock Cats manager Stan Cliburn said. "This is the type of win that can snowball into a pretty good thing.

"As tough as things have been on the Rock Cats this year in the win-loss column, an extra-inning loss again would have been very tough on our mental game. But to win it in the fashion we did, coming back twice, could definitely give us a boost and is definitely something I needed to see."

Trailing 4-2, the Rock Cats (25-35) began the 12th with singles from Brian Baron and Rob Bowen off Hugo Castellanos (3-7). With runners on first and second, Jason Bartlett laid down a perfect bunt. Fagan fielded and overthrew first base. Two runs scored and Bartlett pulled into third.

With Dan Jackson on to pitch, Josh Renick lofted a lazy fly to medium right. Gabe Gross made the catch but Bartlett crossed the plate with the game-winner when the throw was slightly off target.

"If that throw was right there, he’s out," Cliburn said. "It was a great throw by Gross, closer than I thought it would be. Knowing Bartlett has good speed, I had to take my chances. (Renick) did the job by getting the ball in the outfield and I had to hope it would win the game for us."

New Haven grabbed a 4-2 lead in the top of the 12th against Adam Flohr (1-0). Flohrstruck out the first two but walked Jorge Sequea. Alexis Rios (3-for-6, 2 RBI, triple, homer) stroked a liner that tightroped the right-field line and Sequea steamed home. Gross doubled past diving left fielder Matt Scanlon to score Rios.

The Rock Cats trailed 2-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning when they received their first gracious donation. Former Rock Cat righty Kevin Frederick yielded a one-out single to Josh Rabe. With two down, Terry Tiffee drilled a single to center and Rabe stopped at second.

When Scanlon slapped a routine grounder to second, the game appeared to be over, but Dominic Rich took his eyes off the ball. Scanlon beat the late throw and the bases were loaded. Cliburn welcomed the visit from Lady Luck.

"Hard work brings a little luck with it and we definitely work hard," he said.

Kevin West made the errant Ravens pay with a two-run single to force extra innings.

"I was just trying to put a good swing on the ball and (Frederick) hung a slider," West said. "He had thrown me the slider on the pitch before. He backpedalled another one and I got enough wood on it to put it into center field.

"That’s the biggest win of the year for us. There have been a couple wins like that but hopefully this will be the one where we’ll take off."

Both starters were sensational.

Willie Eyre, primarily a reliever, made his second straight spotless start against New Haven (30-34), yielding three hits and a walk over six innings while striking out six. Eyre, who pitched a complete-game shutout against the Ravens in his last outing Sunday, has now strung together 13 consecutive scoreless frames.

Ravens starter Dave Gassner tossed seven innings of three-hit ball, striking out six and walking two.

New Haven took a 1-0 lead in the eighth on a leadoff homer by Rios, the Eastern League’s leading hitter.

New Haven touched up Rock Cats bullpen ace Jesse Crain to take a 2-0 lead in the ninth. Danny Solano drew a two-out walk and Justin Singleton ripped a triple into the right-field corner.

CATS TALES: In a pregame ceremony commemorating the 100th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s birth next Thursday, Rock Cats broadcaster Dan Lovallo reenacted the famous "luckiest man" speech that the Yankees Hall of Famer made on July 4, 1939. The Rock Cats dedicated the game to raising public awareness of the disease that killed Gehrig at 38 - ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ..The planned fireworks display had to be cancelled due to the weather but fans holding ticket stubs will gain free admission when the event is rescheduled. ..With the Rock Cats fourth sellout of the year, New Britain has now drawn more fans (95,573) than Norwich (49,196) and New Haven (42,435) combined.

Ken Lipshez can be reached at klipshez@newbritainherald.com or by calling (860) 225-4601 ext. 222