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Record Crowd Watches Late AirHogs Comeback

May 22, 2012 - American Association (AA)
Grand Prairie AirHogs News Release


GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas -- In front of the largest crowd in franchise history, the Grand Prairie AirHogs provided their fans with their money's worth on Monday night, as they followed up their championship ring ceremony with a dramatic, come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the El Paso Diablos in the AirHogs' home opener in front of 7,101 at QuikTrip Park.

The winning run scored on a passed ball by Patrick Arlis with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, allowing Yasutsugu Nishimoto to trot home, after former AirHogs closer Geivy Garcia had intentionally walked Trent Lockwood with one out.

With a one-strike count to Bridger Hunt, Garcia's pitch and a Hunt check-swing seemed to cross up Arlis, and the ball got back to the backstop.

Some three-and-a-half hours earlier, the big crowd watched the 2011 American Association champions receive their Balfour-designed championship rings, in a ceremony sponsored by the ring maker and the Grand Prairie Parks and Recreation Department. Former AirHog ace Jason Jennings, who won the decisive Game 5 of the Championship Series against St. Paul last September, was on hand to receive his first professional championship ring and also throw out the first pitch of a new season at QuikTrip Park.

AirHogs starter Cody White danced in and out of trouble for his five innings, allowing eight baserunners but only one run, with no walks and two strikeouts and no perfect innings. His counterpart Reymond Cruz matched his outing, allowing a single run on just three hits, while walking five, hitting one and striking out three.

The Diablos (1-4), who left 13 men on in total, struck first in the battle of the bullpens, with a two-out walk to Brian Joynt and an RBI double by Kory Drew giving them a 2-1 lead in the sixth.

But the AirHogs (3-2), who stranded 11 themselves, rescued a potentially rough inning in the eighth to tie the game. Lockwood singled and Andres Rodriguez walked off reliever Marcel Prado, but a strikeout and a popout left the two runners on first and second. David Thomas was able to stroke as single to right to tie it though, and closer Justin Dowdy (1-0) put the Diablos down 1-2-3 in the ninth.

Garcia (0-1) got into immediate trouble by walking Nishimoto to start the bottom half, and after Keanon Simon bunted him to second, Chris McMurray lined a single to right to put runners on the corners. Garcia and the Diablos chose to walk Lockwood, and the passed ball ensued with no margin for error to send the big home crowd home happy.

Notes: The previous largest crowd in AirHogs history was on May 27, 2009 against Shreveport-Bossier, with an Education Day crowd of 6,475...Dowdy's 1-2-3 ninth inning was the only perfect frame for AirHogs pitching, while Cruz's perfect third was the only such inning for El Paso...13 of the 18 hitters in the game had at least one hit and four had at least two...Dowdy's win was the first decision of the season for the AirHogs' bullpen.

The 2011 American Association Champion Grand Prairie AirHogs continue their series with the El Paso Diablos on Tuesday, May 22, at 10:35 a.m. for GPISD Education Day, presented by Grand Bank of Texas. All games are aired live and for free on Ustream by clicking on the link on the AirHogs' home page or visiting http://www.ustream.tv/channel/airhogs-baseball with selected contests aired on Time Warner Cable's Texas Channel. For information on tickets, promotions, advertising, and other opportunities with the AirHogs, check out the Web site at www.airhogsbaseball.com, or call the QuikTrip Park office at (972) 504-9383.

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