Blasters Celebrate Independence Day Victory
July 5, 2015 - American Association (AA)
Joplin Blasters News Release
Joplin, MO - The Blasters honored America on the Fourth of July holiday with a stirring 6-0 victory over the Lincoln Saltdogs Saturday night at Joe Becker Stadium.
Joplin (25-14) improved its record to 6-0 against Central Division teams, and remained unbeaten in five games against Lincoln (14-27). Following a scoreless first and second, the Blasters went to work in the third. A two-out rally began with a Maikol Gonzalez single to left. Gonzalez stole second and scored the game's first run on a double up the left field line from Oscar Mesa. Mesa later stole third and scored on an error as the throw from the catcher was dropped by the third baseman and ricocheted into the Blasters dug out.
Joplin made it 3-0 in the sixth on a Yenier Bello RBI ground out that scored Yasser Gomez. Gomez had walked to lead off the inning and moved to third on back-to-back singles by Carlos Ramirez and Jake Taylor. The Blasters added three more in the eighth for good measure. Taylor drew a one-out walk. With two outs, Bello punched a line drive single to right for a 4-0 lead. Mitch Glasser then extended his hitting streak to a team-high 11 games as he lofted a single up the right field line. Jesus Solorzano capped the night with a two-run scoring double to left-center that hit high off the wall and scored both Bello and Glasser.
The Blasters rode to victory behind another brilliant pitching performance from Jorge Martinez. Martinez (5-2) worked seven-and-a-third and yielded seven hits with six strikeouts and no walks. It was his deepest outing of the season. Luis Chirinos suffered the loss for Lincoln. Chirinos (2-4) lasted seven innings and gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits with two strikeouts and four walks.
At the plate, each side had nine hits. All but one Blasters batter registered a hit in the win. Carlos Ramirez went 2-for-3. Jesus Solorzano had the double with two RBIs. For Lincoln, Jon Gaston and Mike Gilmartin each collected two hits. Lincoln left ten men on base after stranding eleven in the series opener Friday. The Blasters are now 18-2 when they score first and when they score five or more runs.
First-place Joplin closes out its holiday weekend series against the Saltdogs with game three Sunday night. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05. For 2015 ticket information and promotion specials at Joe Becker Stadium, call 417-622-4838 or visit the Blasters website at www.joplinblasters.com.
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