Alonso, AirHogs get final word in slugfest

Published on May 27, 2011 under American Association (AA)
Grand Prairie AirHogs News Release


GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas -- It was not to be the eighth home run of the night, but John Alonso's fly ball to left field with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning was just deep enough to allow David Espinosa to tag up and score the 25th and final run on a wild Friday night, as the Grand Prairie AirHogs outlasted the Shreveport-Bossier Captains 13-12 in front of 1,712 fans at QuikTrip Park.

The start of the game belied what was to come, as both starters, Grand Prairie's Jae Jung and Shreveport-Bossier's Osvaldo Rodriguez, retired the side in order in the first.

But the Captains' Andres Rodriguez led off the second with a home run, and there was not to be another full scoreless inning on the night. The Captains (9-6) added to their lead with an RBI groundout by Bryan Sabatella in the second, but the AirHogs (9-5) came back in the bottom of the third. Three straight singles to start the inning loaded the bases, and David Thomas' sacrifice fly with one out put Grand Prairie on the board. Cesar Nicolas then came through with a long two-run double to put the AirHogs on top - a lead they built on in the fourth.

This time, three straight doubles gave Grand Prairie two more runs, and Espinosa knocked in one more with a two-out single to make it 6-2. Shreveport-Bossier retaliated in the fifth with a leadoff home run by Brian Peterson, a three-run homer by Sabatella to knock out Jung, and a two-out solo homer by Uriak Marquez off Rico Salmon, with the Captains going out front again 7-6.

Grand Prairie came right back with a sac fly from Jake Taylor in the bottom of the inning to tie it, but Joe Urtuzuastegui homered in the top of the sixth to put the Captains ahead for the third time. The AirHogs then knocked out Rodriguez in the sixth with a two-run homer by Nicolas to give Grand Prairie the lead at 9-8. Greg Porter greeted Danial McHenry with his first home run of the year to make it 10-8, and a two-run single by Zane Chavez later in the inning made it 12-8.

Once again the Captains came back, getting a run in the seventh off Bo Schultz and three runs off Dustin Cameron and Jon Hunton (1-0) in the eighth, helped by three eighth-inning AirHogs errors.

After Justin Young (0-2) pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth and Hunton retired the Captains in the ninth, Young walked Espinosa to start the bottom of the ninth. The Grand Prairie leadoff hitter then stole second, and went to third when Peterson threw to first to complete a strikeout to David Thomas. The Captains then walked Nicolas and Porter intentionally, bringing the infield and outfield in to pitch to Alonso, who was able to get the winning run home.

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American Association Stories from May 27, 2011


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