Miners Pull Away from Jackals

Published on July 21, 2018 under Canadian American League (Can-Am)
Sussex County Miners News Release

Sussex County Miners are safe at home
(Sussex County Miners, Credit: Sara Schaarschmidt/Sussex County Miners)

The story heading into the game was the Miners debut of starting pitcher Michael Wagner, who was acquired by Sussex County from the Chicago Dogs of the American Association. He found himself in trouble early, but his strikeout stuff saw him escape back-to-back jams while only sustaining minimal damage. Seven strikeouts in the first four innings, including two in each of the first three, has Jackals hitters frustrated.

Down 1-0 in the fourth, Martin Figueroa tied the game in a big way, as he deposited a Dylan Brammer fastball over the right field wall for his first home run of the season. That was just the beginning for the Miners, however - three straight singles saw another run cross the plate, and a Luis Alen sacrifice fly gave the Miners a 3-1 lead by the time the inning was over.

Sussex County tacked on another run in the sixth, but it was the seventh inning where they broke the game open. Four hits and two walks allowed another three runs to score, giving Sussex County a 7-2 lead entering the eighth.

The Jackals looked like they could string together another one of their late comebacks in the eighth, as Carlos Triunfel drove in Seth Spivey with two outs, cutting the Miners lead to four. However, Kevin Grendell recorded a big strikeout of Nolan Meadows, leaving New Jersey with three outs to come back.

El'Hajj Muhammad made sure that didn't happen - he worked around two walks and struck out Jordan Hinshaw to end the game, giving the Miners their 40th win of the season and preserving their 4.5 game lead on first base.

Offensively for the Miners, Figueroa and Audy Ciriaco each had three hits, and Luis Alen had two more hits and his second consecutive three-RBI game to pace the Miners attack.

The Miners finish the five-game series on Sunday with a single admission doubleheader. The first pitch for game one is scheduled for 2:05 pm.

Sussex County Miners pitcher Michael Wagner (Sara Schaarschmidt/Sussex County Miners)

Martin Figueroa of the Sussex County Miners (Sara Schaarschmidt/Sussex County Miners)

Sussex County Miners are safe at home (Sara Schaarschmidt/Sussex County Miners)

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