Bums drop opener
July 9, 2011 - Frontier League (FL)
Traverse City Beach Bums News Release
FLORENCE, KY-The Florence Freedom scored three times in the seventh inning thanks to a pair of clutch two-out base hits as they beat the Traverse City Beach Bums in front of 2,324 fans at Champion Window Field by a score of 5-2.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Traverse City, who had won four straight for the third time this season. During the first five innings of the contest, Beach Bums starting pitcher Matt Smith and Freedom starter Andy Clark battled back-and-forth, keeping their opponent off-balance and setting off a pitchers' duel between the two.
The Beach Bums trailed 2-1 in the sixth inning when shortstop Jose Vargas blasted his sixth home run of the season, a tape-measure solo shot to left field, to tie the ballgame at two.
In the seventh, the Beach Bums failed to bring second baseman Hector Bernal home from third base with the go-ahead run before Florence struck for three runs against Traverse City relief pitcher Scott Reid. With two outs and a runner on third base, an RBI-single from second baseman Kevin Haas and a two-run double from first baseman Stephen Shults gave the Freedom the 5-2 lead. The runs allowed by Reid ended his scoreless streak at 21 consecutive innings.
Freedom reliever Zeb Engle (1-0) pitched two-thirds of an inning and pitched out of the Beach Bums threat in the seventh to pick up his first win of 2011. Smith (0-2) ended up pitching 6.1 innings on the mound, but suffered the loss for Traverse City, his second of the season. The Beach Bums fall to 23-23 with the loss, while Florence improves to 23-22 with the win. Bernal and Vargas each had two hits to lead the Beach Bums in the contest.
The Beach Bums-Freedom series continues with game two of this three-game series on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. All-Star left hander Bryan Banes gets the start for the Beach Bums. He'll be opposed by Florence lefty Chris Ingoglia. Be sure to catch all the action beginning with the Budweiser Pregame Show starting at 5:45 p.m. on Sunny Country 101.9 FM and streaming online through tcbeachbums.com.
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