Miners Come Back Late, But Fall Short
Published on August 2, 2014 under Frontier League (FL)
Southern Illinois Miners News Release
Marion, Ill. - The Southern Illinois Miners fell behind 5-1, but rallied back for one run in the eighth and two in the ninth. The comeback, however fell just short in a 5-4 loss at home to the River City Rascals at Rent One Park.
River City had a 2-0 lead with single runs in the second and third innings before the Miners got one back. Aaron Gates hit a big RBI double, part of a 3-for-4 night at the plate, to score Ryan Cavan all the way around from first to slice the lead in half at 2-1.
But three wild pitches, a passed ball and an error would lead to three runs on just one hit in the top of the fifth for the Rascals, making the score 5-1. That's the way the score stayed until Tyler Booth tripled inside the bag at third and scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 5-2 in the bottom of the eighth.
In the bottom of the ninth, against former Miners reliever and current Rascals closer Gabriel Shaw, Gates singled up the middle to lead off and Chris Burke slammed a two-run homer to left to make the score 5-4 with no one out in the frame. Shaw, however, would get the next three to end the game and hand the Miners just their second series opener home loss this season in 13 total series.
Gates and Marquis Riley, who went 2-for-4 with a double, led the Miners offensively as the home team out-hit the Rascals nine to five in the contest. Matt Bywater (6-3) pitched six innings and gave up only two earned runs while striking out a season-high nine batters. But the left-hander also walked five and threw four total wild pitches leading to the winning run in the fifth.
The Miners will look to bounce back on Sunday night at 5:05 p.m. at Rent One Park, starting Michael Carden against the Rascals' Kyle Blair.
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