Pheasants Come up Short in Amarillo
Published on May 24, 2011 under American Association (AA)
Sioux Falls Canaries News Release
AMARILLO, Texas - The Sioux Falls Pheasants came up on the short end of a seesaw affair on Tuesday night, losing 9-7 to the newly minted Amarillo Sox. The Pheasants dropped the opener of a three-game series and a five-game southern road trip.
Despite drilling three home runs, the Pheasants were shut out in the final two innings of the three-game series opener.
Fresh off the league's Player of the Week award, Amarillo slugger Lee Cruz went 3-for-5 with a home run and four RBI to lead the Sox. He leads the league with 23 RBI.
Cruz was part of a four-run inning off Pheasants' starter Chris Salberg (0-3). Salberg gave up a leadoff solo home run to Chris Nash that tied the game at 5-5. Later in the frame, the Sox hit back-to-back, two-out singles. The latter came from Cyle Hankerd and scored Adam De La Garza to give the Sox the lead for good. Cruz followed with a two-run double off Pheasants reliever Dan McDaniel for an 8-5 lead.
Salberg suffered the loss, giving up eight runs and 11 hits over 5 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out three.
Sox starter Matt Elliott (1-0) pitched well enough for the win, tossing six innings and allowing five runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out six.
Reggie Abercrombie, Mark Shorey and Brandon Sing each belted home runs. Sing leads the league with seven home runs, all of them solo shots. Shorey tallied his first round-tripper of the year. Abercrombie's two-run blast to left field in the seventh pulled the Pheasants within one run at 8-7. But Cruz swatted a solo home run in the ninth off Ryan Grant for an insurance run.
Closer Chris Bass pitched a perfect ninth for his second save of the season.
The Pheasants record fell to 4-8 with the loss.
Game two of the three-game series is at 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday, May 25 in Amarillo. The game will be broadcast on Sioux Falls Sports Radio 1230-AM KWSN and online at www.kwsn.com.
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