Nuts Start Homestand with High-Scoring Win on Blustery Night
June 23, 2015 - American Association (AA)
Wichita Wingnuts News Release
WICHITA, KS (June 22, 2015) - The wind was howling through Lawrence-Dumont Stadium all day long on Monday and never let up until the final innings of a game between the Wichita Wingnuts and the Sioux Falls Canaries. The gusting wind led to an offensive outpouring that saw a combined 24 runs and 29 hits before the game was complete. Dustin Geiger's five-RBI, 4-5 performance at the plate with three extra base hits helped the Wingnuts end a four-game losing streak with a 13-11 victory.
The scoring onslaught began in the second inning with the Wingnuts (17-12) at the plate. Geiger ripped a double and later came around to score on Matt Padgett's single through the right side. Two batters later, Padgett also crossed the plate on Luis Hernandez's base hit to grab a 2-0 lead against Sioux Falls' starter Stephen Bougher.
The following inning saw Wichita post another crooked number. T.J. Mittelstaedt smacked a solo home run to start the frame and Geiger quickly followed with a two-run blast of his own to increase the lead to 5-0. The long ball for Mittelstaedt was his sixth, while Geiger saw his season total increase to seven.
Charlie Lowell cruised through the first three innings, giving up only one hit to the Canaries (15-17). That quickly came to a halt in the third when Sioux Falls snatched away the lead. The first seven batters of the inning reached base with a hit, only one going for extra bases. By the time David Bergin grounded out to first to end the frame the Canaries had scored eight runs on nine hits and sent 12 players into the batter's box.
A two-out error by shortstop Jerome Pena in the bottom of the fourth turned costly for Bougher and the Canaries when David Espinosa followed the miscue with a single up the middle that scored a pair and cut the Wichita deficit to 8-7. In the fifth, John Nester drove in a run with the third straight single off of Sioux Falls pitchers to tie the score at eight. Hernandez followed with a sacrifice fly to put the Wingnuts in front 9-8.
A wild sixth inning saw the teams each score three runs and the lead change hands twice. A walk, two errors by Geiger, and an RBI double from Chris Grayson left Sioux Falls with an 11-9 lead heading to the home half. Alberto Gonzalez led off the bottom of the inning with a double and was joined on base by Espinosa after the veteran walked. Geiger came through with his third extra-base hit to tie the score on a two-RBI double off the wall. The first baseman would put the Nuts in front for good when he scored on a Tyler Pearson (0-1) wild pitch to make it 12-11. Geiger capped off his impressive night with a run-scoring single in the eighth to make it 13-11.
After Al Yevoli (3-0) had finished off the sixth inning, Kevin Hooper handed it to Daniel Bennett for the seventh. The right-hander was able to work around a leadoff double to hold the score in place. After a tough outing on Sunday, Daniel Carela took the ball for the eighth and stranded a base runner as well. Matt Nevarez recorded his eighth save by containing the Canaries in one, two, three fashion in the ninth.
Joash Brodin advanced his hitting streak to 13 games with a single in the third and added another for good measure in the fifth. 17 of the 18 players who batted in the contest recorded at least one hit and nine players finished with more. Six players from each time knocked in at least one run.
The series will end with a 7:05 p.m. game on Tuesday night that features the United Way of the Plains Pacesetter Campaign Kickoff. RHP Scott Kuzminsky throws for the Wingnuts against RHP Jeremy Strawn of Sioux Falls. For information on season tickets, group outings, and party packages, call the Wingnuts' main office at (316) 264-NUTS, or visit the Wingnuts' official website at www.wichitawingnuts.com.
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