Balanced attack gets another AirHogs win in El Paso

Published on June 11, 2011 under American Association (AA)
Grand Prairie AirHogs News Release


EL PASO, Texas -- After a nine-game winning streak put the Grand Prairie AirHogs at 15-5, they lost four straight games to St. Paul and Amarillo. But the AirHogs have gotten back on the winning side again, with a streak in the right direction that hit four on Saturday night, as Grand Prairie got back to 10 games over .500 with a 10-3 thrashing of the El Paso Diablos at Cohen Stadium.

As they did on Friday, the AirHogs (19-9) used a big second inning to get things going. Jake Taylor singled and Zane Chavez doubled to start the frame, and Guillermo Martinez tripled down the rightfield line to bring them both in. After a sacrifice fly, single and pop-out, Cesar Nicolas completed the AirHogs' hitting for the cycle in the inning with a two-run homer to left, his fifth of the year, to make it 5-0.

Grand Prairie tacked on one more on a David Thomas sacrifice fly to chase starter Reymond Cruz (0-2) after four, while AirHogs starter Josh Rainwater (5-1) was pitching as well as anyone can in the spacious Cohen Stadium. Through six innings, the righty had allowed two hits, two walks and exactly two fly balls to the outfield, with one strikeout, two lineouts, one pop-out and 10 groundouts (including one double play).

But after the AirHogs made it 7-0 on a John Alonso double in the seventh, El Paso (9-19) got to a tiring Rainwater in the seventh. With one out, Chad Gabriel doubled, Kyle Nichols drew a walk after being behind 0-2, and Manuel Mejia hit a three-run home run to cut the Grand Prairie lead to four. But Rainwater recovered to get out of the inning, and the Diablos did not score again.

The AirHogs answered right back with a bizarre three-run eighth, scoring without the benefit of a single hit. Jake Taylor was one of three AirHogs hit by pitches in an inning that included a sacrifice bunt-error combination, two bases-loaded walks and an RBI groundout.

With the lead comfortably back to seven, Dustin Cameron pitched around two singles in the eighth and Bo Schultz finished things off with a perfect ninth to clinch the AirHogs' fourth road series win in as many tries and extend their road winning streak to eight.

Notes: Eight AirHogs had at least one hit, and only Chavez had three...Six AirHogs had at least one RBI led by Nicolas's three and seven scored at least a run...The top four hitters in El Paso's lineup were a combined 1-for-15...Schultz has not allowed a run in his last 6 2/3 innings.

The AirHogs conclude their three-game set at the Diablos on Sunday, June 12, at 7:05 p.m. Central time. The next home game at QuikTrip Park is Thursday, June 16, at 7:05 p.m. against the El Paso Diablos, with Thirsty Thursday, featuring $2 16-oz. beers. Don't miss the renewed commitment to excellence and affordable family entertainment. All games are available with live, free streaming video on ustream.tv. Individual game tickets are on sale and can be purchased by calling 972-504-9383 or by visiting www.airhogsbaseball.com

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American Association Stories from June 11, 2011


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