PL Idaho Falls Chukars

Chukars Rally from Four Down Late, Win 9-8

August 18, 2015 - Pioneer League (PL)
Idaho Falls Chukars News Release


IDAHO FALLS, ID --- To begin a four-game series at Melaleuca Field, the Idaho Falls Chukars came back from a four-run late inning deficit and shocked the Billings Mustangs, beating them by a score of 9-8 on Monday night.

With starters Franderlyn Romero and Hunter Haynes on the hill, the offenses went back and forth in the early frames.

After Idaho Falls began the scoring in the first inning on a RBI single from outfielder Amalani Fukofuka, the two teams traded two-run homers in the second, as outfielder Jonathan Martijin went deep for the Mustangs while catcher Kyle Pollock went yard for the Chukars.

Up 3-2, the Chukars defense and pitching allowed the Mustangs to retrieve the game momentum right out from under them. From the top of the third to the seventh inning, Billings went on to score five unanswered runs (one earned) off of Haynes and lefty Brandon Thomas to take a four-run lead.

Fortunately for Idaho Falls, their penchant for late-inning rallies continued on Monday night. In the seventh inning, a run-scoring groundout off the bat of outfielder Roman Collins and a sacrifice fly by shortstop Marten Gasparini cut the Chukars deficit to 7-5.

After Thomas gave up another unearned run on one of five errors by Gasparini on the night in the top of the eighth, Idaho Falls retook their initial lead in the bottom half of the inning.

Starting off with singles by Pollock and outfielder Cody Jones and a walk drawn by third basemenRyan Dale loaded the bases with no outs. After a wild pitch from Mustangs reliever Tyler Parmenter scored Pollock, a two-run single by second basemen DJ Burt scored Jones and Dale to tie up the game. One batter later, Fukofuka came through with another RBI single to score Burt and give the Chukars the lead for good.

In his fourth inning of relief, Thomas sent down the Mustangs scoreless in the ninth to improve to 2-1 on the season and secure the win for the Chukars.

With the victory, Idaho Falls has now won four straight games overall and has won seven straight games at Melaleuca Field dating back to July. The four-run deficit the Chukars came back from is the second-largest of the season.

Offensively, Idaho Falls churned out 13 hits and nine runs against the pitching staff with the lowest earned run average (4.22) coming into the game. Jones and Fukofuka led the way with three hits, while Burt, Pollack and designated hitter Nick Dini chipped in with two hits apiece.

For Burt, the two-hit, two-RBI, two-run night adds to a torrid month of August at the plate. The 19-year-old is hitting .421 in August with 14 runs scored in 11 games. During the first four games of this homestand, the 2014 4th round pick is 9-for-14 at the plate with seven runs scored.

The win for the Chukars improves their league-best record to 13-4 in the second half. They have now won as many games in the second half in 17 games than they did in the entire first half (36 games).

Continuing with the second leg of their week-long homestand, the Chukars and Mustangs will play game two of a four-game series at Melaleuca Field on Tuesday, The Chukars will send RHP Daniel Concepcion to the bump while the Mustangs will counter with RHP Tanner Rainey. First pitch is at 7:15 PM.

Make sure to tune to John Balginy and Alex Cohen all season long on MiLBTV, the Chukars Tune-In Radio App and live on ESPN 980 AM, 105.1 FM and 94.5 FM.

Check out the Idaho Falls Chukars Statistics



Pioneer League Stories from August 18, 2015


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