Miners Come Back Again over Beach Bums for 60th Win
August 29, 2015 - Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. - The Southern Illinois Miners staged yet another comeback in the later stages of their ballgame on Saturday night against the Traverse City Beach Bums, answering a three-run go-ahead rally in the sixth by the visitors with three two-out runs of their own in the same inning including a pinch-hit, go-ahead double by Marquis Riley, to take the contest 6-4, their 60th win of 2015. It is the second straight season as well as the third time in the Miners' nine-year history they have won 60 or more games, with the victory also lowering the Miners' magic number to clinch a second-straight East Division title down to just one.
The Miners took the lead on a sacrifice fly by Frank Martinez in the first after back-to-back singles by Aaron Gates and Michael Earley, the latter of which extended his hitting streak to 16 games in a row. Traverse City came back and took advantage of an error by Martinez in the third inning, scoring a run on an RBI fielder's choice by Jay Austin to knot the game at 1-1, but Southern Illinois responded in the bottom of the frame. Toby DeMello led off with a walk and two batters later, Gates shot a two-run homer over the right field wall, his fifth of the season, to give the Miners the lead back at 3-1.
Adam Lopez pitched five innings and surrendered just one unearned run on four hits with four strikeouts in his first start since August 11th due to a lower back strain. He left in line for his 11th win, but Traverse City took the lead back with a rally off Brandon Cowan (2-2) in the sixth inning. The Beach Bums plated three, with two coming on a two-run single by Patrick to take a 4-3 lead. But Southern Illinois was again resilient, and came right back with three of their own in the bottom of the frame. Martinez doubled and Vasquez walked before Jerrud Sabourin sacrificed them to second and third. After a fielder's choice with a putout at home for the second out, Riley was called upon to pinch-hit and came through in a big way, driving a double to the left-center field gap that plated two runs for a 5-4 Miners lead. DeMello followed with another double for a 6-4 lead.
The Miners' bullpen held the fort from there, with Eric Green earning his 12th save as the Miners clinched the season series with the Beach Bums and also improved to 15-0 in Lopez's starts this year. With their magic number now at just one, the Miners can clinch the East Division title with another win or a Beach Bums loss. They will go for a sweep of Traverse City on Sunday at 5:05 p.m., with the Miners clinching the division with a victory. Rick Teasley will pitch for the Miners against the Beach Bums' Rob Blanc.
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