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Rio Grande Valley Beats San Angelo for the Second Straight Night, 8-1

July 5, 2012 - North American League (NAmL)
Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings News Release


HARLINGEN- Luis Chirinos fanned nine batters in 6 2/3 innings and Mario Mercedes collected three hits as Rio Grande Valley took their second straight victory from San Angelo, 8-1, at Harlingen Field Thursday night.

Chirinos (5-3) took control early, at one point retiring 12 of 13 hitters with J.J. Sherrill's bunt single in the top of the third inning his only blemish. He allowed only one run and two walks and lowered his earned run average to 2.50.

"I saw out of his today the same as every time he pitches," said Mercedes, Chirinos' catcher. "He had command using his changeup."

While changing speeds baffled the San Angelo (21-19) hitters, Mercedes led a 10-hit parade with three hits of his own. He scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the third when his leadoff single off losing pitcher Mark Willinsky (4-2) was followed by another from designated hitter John Scuillo, a Bryan Marquez sacrifice, and a run-producing groundout from Francisco Santana.

Mercedes then was the key figure of the WhiteWings' (22-18) 6-run seventh inning. With Rio Grande Valley leading 2-1, the righthanded hitter led off with a single to right field and scored on a Santana single to left off Willinsky, who allowed eight runs, four earned, in 6 1/3 innings.

Nine batters later, with the bases loaded and two out, Mercedes' 2-out single to center plated Leugim Barroso and Leivi Ventura with the game's final tallies.

"I changed my approach," Mercedes said of his 3-hit effort. "The last four or five games, I had been trying to pull the ball. Today I went the other way."

The WhiteWings' victory allowed them to move ahead of San Angelo into the first division of the North American Baseball League's Southern Division.

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