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Late inning stumbles send Sox to third straight loss

June 1, 2014 - American Association (AA)
Amarillo ThunderHeads News Release


For the second straight night, the Amarillo Sox let a late-inning lead slip away in a loss to the Grand Prairie AirHogs. Grand Prairie scored a run in the eighth, and two in the ninth for a 6-4 win. Amarillo now falls to 7-9 on the season, while Grand Prairie improves to the same record.

The AirHogs opened up the scoring in the top of the third against Amarillo starter Brian Smith, when Michael Hur hit a two-run single to score Brandon Pinckney and Eric Baker. But Amarillo had a quick answer, a theme in the early innings of Saturday's game. Jeff Farnham led off the bottom of the third with a solo home run, and Derek Perren hit an RBI single to score Jason Martin and tie the game at two.

Grand Prairie would reclaim the lead in the top of the fourth, when Pinckney hit an RBI single to score Vince DiFazio from second. Smith was able to escape the inning without any further damage, and Amarillo tied the game in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI groundout by Farnham.

Amarillo would take their first lead in the bottom half of the fifth. Perren led off the inning with a double to right field, and Cory Patton singled him over to third. That set the stage for Keith Brachold, who scored Perren on a sacrifice fly to center field to give the Sox a 4-3 lead.

Kellen Moen came into the game in relief in the top of the sixth, and worked two scoreless innings in which he faced the minimum number of batters. He was relieved by Celson Polanco in the eighth, and Grand Prairie went to work on tying the game. Palmer Karr led off the inning with a single, and Jason Botts walked to put runners at first and second. After a fielder's choice, DiFazio singled home a run to tie the game with one out. John Holdzkom came on in relief and got a fly out and a strike out to end the inning in his return to Amarillo.

The Sox would threaten to retake the lead in the bottom of the eighth, loading the bases for second baseman Josh Miller. But Miller would fly out to shallow right, and Michael Hur's throw to the plate would retire Mahoney trying to score on the play.

Erik Draxton came into relief in the top of the ninth, and found himself in a jam early on. Jimmy Mojica led off the inning with a single, and Hur walked to put two runners on. After a sacrifice bunt and intentional walk, Andres Rodriguez came up with the bases loaded and one out. Rodriguez hit a chopper to first, and a charging Brachold threw home, but the throw was wild and two AirHogs scored. Draxton would settle down and struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

Amarillo would threaten briefly in the bottom of the ninth when Perren led off the inning with a single. But a double play off the bat of Patton, and a Brachold ground out ended the game.

The Sox will look to avoid the four-game sweep Sunday night when they close out the homestand against Grand Prairie. It will be a Free Admission Sunday, courtesy of Aqua One. First pitch will be at 6:05.



American Association Stories from June 1, 2014


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