Home Runs Bury Crawdads in 9-6 Loss
Published on August 23, 2015 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hickory Crawdads News Release
Greensboro, NC - The Hickory Crawdads pitching staff was unable to avoid giving up the long ball Sunday night, as the 'Dads hurlers allowed three home runs resulting in a 9-6 loss to the hometown Greensboro Grasshoppers at NorthBridge Bank Park.
The three homers allowed tied a season high for the Hickory pitching staff, which also gave up three long balls to the Grasshoppers in a 5-0 defeat on July 7th. The normally dominant group scuffled through most of the Crawdads series in Greensboro, as the hurlers allowed at least 7 runs in three of the four games and 25 total tallies while the 'Dads dropped three of four games to their in-state neighbor.
The Hickory hitters jumped out to an initial lead for the 4th straight night with two runs in the 2nd, as Jose Trevino reached on an infield single and Luke Tendler doubled down the left field line before Jairo Beras delivered an RBI single to left and a fielding error by 'Hoppers catcher Felix Castillo allowed another run to score. The 'Dads tacked on to their advantage in the top of the 4th, when Beras lined a solo home run to left to put Hickory on top 3-0.
Crawdads starting pitcher Yohander Mendez began the night facing the minimum number of batters while tossing three scoreless innings. Everything changed in the 4th however, as the Greensboro lineup sent eight men to the plate while rallying for three runs on five hits, including a solo homer by Mason Davis, to tie the game at 3-3. The Grasshoppers kept their foot on the gas in the over the next two frames, with an RBI groundout by Justin Twine in the 5th and an RBI base knock from Ryan Aper in the 6th combining to put the home team ahead 5-3.
The 'Dads bats came through with a rally of their own in in the top of the 7th, with a leadoff single by Beras, a walk from Eduard Pinto, and a line drive, 2-RBI single off the left field wall by Jonathan Myer combining to tie up the game at 5-5. The 'Hoppers bats quickly responded with their biggest inning of the night in the bottom of the frame though, with 2-run home runs by both Twine and Arturo Rodriguez putting Greensboro back on top 9-5.
Hickory put together one last tally in the 8th with a 2-out, RBI double by Pinto to make the score 9-6, but the Grasshoppers bullpen shut the Crawdads down from there to finish off the game.
'Hoppers reliever James Buckelew (5-4) earned the win despite initially blowing the save, as the left-handed hurler allowed two runs on two hits, one walk, and one strikeout over one inning pitched. 'Dads bullpen arm Shane McCain (1-2) took the loss after giving up five runs on six hits and two walks during 1.1 IP, while Greensboro closer Kyle Fischer (11) picked up his third save of the series by throwing a scoreless 9th.
Beras led the Crawdads offense with a 3-4 game including a home run, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored, while Myer finished 2-4 with 2 RBI.
The Crawdads (74-50/30-26) will have an off day on Monday before starting a 4-game series against the Charleston RiverDogs on Tuesday. First pitch for game one on August 25th is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
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