Elliott's complete game leads Sox over Diablos 8-2

Published on July 11, 2011 under American Association (AA)
Amarillo ThunderHeads News Release


AMARILLO, TX - The Amarillo Sox needed a strong pitching performance coming off three straight losses and Matt Elliott with a complete game performance as the Sox defeated the El Paso Diablos 8-2 on Monday night in front of 1,900 fans at the Amarillo National Bank Sox Stadium.

Elliott (6-2) allowed only ten hits and two runs, walking three and striking out five. Diablos starter Luis Monteno (0-1) got the loss, allowing seven runs off seven hits in six and one-thirds innings.

The Sox started the scoring in the second inning as Lee Cruz hit a leadoff homerun to give Amarillo the one-run lead. They were able to keep the lead with El Paso's Stephen Douglas at third in the third inning. After a ball bounced off the glove of Kevin Butler, he raced back to retrieve it as Douglas ran for home. The relay throw to Elliott was in time to retire Douglas and keep the score 1-0 in favor of Amarillo.

The Diablos were able to tie the game in the fifth as Scott Hodsdon singled, stole second, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Kory Drew and scored on an Albenis Machado sacrifice fly to tie the game 1-1.

Amarillo took the lead back in the fifth as Fehlandt Lentini and Adam De La Garza both reached on two-out four-pitch walks. Cyle Hankerd followed with a double to left field to score Lentini while De La Garza scored on an error for a 3-1 Sox advantage.

El Paso got one run back in the sixth as Alberto Espinosa reached on a fielder's choice and scored on a Maikol Gonzalez triple for a 3-2 score.

The Sox got some insurance runs in the seventh inning as Jason White walked and went to third on a Lentini single. With Lentini taking off to second on the pitch, De La Garza singled to right field to score both runners. Following a Cruz single to put runners on the corners, Monteno was removed from the game. Tim Alberts hit a two-out single on reliever Rigoberto Almonte to score De La Garza from third, while Cruz scored on an error. Josh Banda capped the inning with an RBI single to score Alberts for an 8-2 Amarillolead.

Elliott finished off the Diablos through the remainder of the game for a 8-2 Sox victory.

With the win, the Sox improve to 28-27 while the Diablos fall to 15-40. Tuesday, Amarillo will take on El Paso for the second game of a three-game set at 7:05pm with the Aqua One Pre-Game Show set to begin at 6:50pm. The game can be heard by visiting www.amarillosox.com via Ustream. Game time is tentative and is subject to blackout. The game will feature the talents of the Famous San Diego Chicken presented by Amarillo National Bank.

Season tickets are available for purchase in-person by visiting the Sox Front Offices at 801 S. Polk or over the phone by calling (806) 242-4653. For more information on tickets, game times and schedules, promotions, marketing opportunities, and everything else Sox, visit the "Official Website of the Amarillo Sox" at www.amarillosox.com.

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American Association Stories from July 11, 2011


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