
McMurray's Squeeze Gives AirHogs South Crown
Published on August 14, 2011 under American Association (AA)
Grand Prairie AirHogs News Release
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas -- When Sunday dawned, a possibility existed that the Grand Prairie AirHogs could have clinched a playoff spot before finishing the first game of their twinbill against the El Paso Diablos. But the Shreveport-Bossier Captains took the first game of their doubleheader against the Gary SouthShore Railcats, before losing the nightcap 5-2 to reduce the AirHogs' magic number to one. That meant Grand Prairie needed one win against El Paso to clinch the South Division championship.
The AirHogs waited until the last pitch of the night to make it happen, as they lost the opening game 4-3 before coming back to win the nightcap 6-5 on Chris McMurray's game-ending bunt single in the bottom of the seventh inning in front of 2,678 fans at QuikTrip Park.
McMurray's heroics were needed because of Javier Brito's three-run homer to tie the game at 5-5 with one out in the top of the sixth. Jason Jennings got the final two outs of that frame, and Jon Hunton (7-2) struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to set things up for the winner.
Cesar Nicolas struck out to start the bottom of the seventh, but John Alonso walked and pinch-runner Jake Taylor went to third on Joey Gomes' single up the middle. After David Thomas was intentionally walked, McMurray took a strike, and then laid down a bunt just to the first base side of the mound. Pitcher Kyle Cremers (2-1) tried to glove the ball home with one motion, but he whiffed on the roller and Taylor slid in with the division-clinching run.
Grand Prairie (55-31) fell behind 1-0 in the first inning of the game, before getting two unearned runs in the bottom of the first to go up 2-1. El Paso (31-55) got even in the second on a Kory Drew
single, before the Airhogs got three runs off starter Scott Hodsdon in the fourth to take the lead.
But El Paso rallied back before the AirHogs finally came through to win the first division crown in franchise history - having made the playoffs as a wild card in 2008.
In the opening game of the twinbill, the Diablos struck first as well, getting a two-run double by Adam Deleo in the second when Danny Figueroa appeared to lose his fly ball in the sun. El Paso made it 3-0 on Alberto Espinosa's solo homer leading off the fourth.
The AirHogs got one back in the fourth inning agasint Colin Allen (3-7), but El Paso got that run right back on Uriak Marquez's fifth-inning RBI single. Josh Rainwater (12-6) got the last eight outs in seven batters, including with a four-pitch sixth inning, but his offense could not quite come back in support of his complete-game effort.
Espinosa's leadoff single in the sixth chased Allen, and after one-out single by John Alonso, Cremers got a fielder's choice before departing himself. Thomas's two-run triple was the only batter for lefty Adam Rowe, but Reyes Dorado, the fourth Diablos pitcher of the inning, kept him at third by deflecting German Duran's grounder ticketed to center over to second baseman Albenis Machado to end the inning.
Dorado then worked around a one-out walk in the seventh, getting Espinosa to ground out with the potential tying run at third to get his third save of the season.
Notes: The Diablos left only two men on base in the nightcap...Grand Prairie has now won five straight series...El Paso shortstop Maikol Gonzalez left after the first inning of the nightcap with an apparent wrist injury after being run into by Stephen Douglas in the bottom of the first...Douglas hit leadoff in the second game, his first time batting first since joining the AirHogs...All nine AirHogs had at least one hit in the first game...Rainwater has gotten a decision in all 18 of his starts...Each team hit into two double plays in Game 1.
The AirHogs now begin a four-game series with the Fort Worth Cats, starting Monday, August 15 at 7:05 p.m. at LaGrave Field. After playing Tuesday in Fort Worth, the series shifts back to QuikTrip Park on Wednesday, August 17, also at 7:05 p.m. All games are available with live, free streaming video on ustream.tv. Individual game tickets are on sale and can be purchased by calling 972-504-9383 or by visiting www.airhogsbaseball.com.
American Association Stories from August 14, 2011
- X's Outlast Pheasants With 7-6 Win In 12 Innings - Sioux City Explorers
- McMurray's Squeeze Gives AirHogs South Crown - Grand Prairie AirHogs
- American Association Game Recaps - AA
- Ka'aihue Strikes Again with Game-Winning Knock - Kansas City Monarchs
- RedHawks Sweep Saints with 5-3 Win - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
- Saints Swept by RedHawks, Lose 5-3 - St. Paul Saints
- Pheasants Stumble in Series Finale - Sioux Falls Canaries
- RailCats Rally to Take Game Two 5-2 to Split Doubleheader - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- Dipietro Throws Shutout in Game One, Captains Split Doubleheader in Gary - Shreveport-Bossier Captains
- American Association Game Recap - AA
- American Association Game Recaps - AA
- Fish Close out Weekend with Win Over Wingnuts - Winnipeg Goldeyes
- Wingnuts Drop Finale of Road Trip - Wichita Wingnuts
- Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks Roster Moves - Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks
- RailCats Drop Game One 1-0 to Captains - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- Goldeyes Place Williams on Waivers - Winnipeg Goldeyes
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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