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Sox lead diminishes in the ninth

August 13, 2013 - American Association (AA)
Amarillo ThunderHeads News Release


AMARILLO, TX - The Sox lose their second straight game at home, 5-2 against the Airhogs at Amarillo National Bank Sox Stadium. Ryan Mitchell pitched a scoreless seven innings for Amarillo but the bullpen would not be able to hold for the Sox starter. The game lasted three hours and two minutes in front of 2,324 in attendance.

Ryan Mitchell's only hit allowed came in the second inning to Andres Rodriguez on a double to left-center. Mitchell would walk Kenny Held, who stole second after Rodriguez advanced to third on a passed ball. With two runners in scoring position, Mitchell struck out the next two batters, getting out of the jam. Including those two strikeouts, the Sox starter would retire fifteen straight batters until walking Rodriguez in the seventh. A groundout and a strikeout would get Mitchell out of his last inning.

Amarillo did their scoring in the second inning with four consecutive singles by five through eight in the lineup. Chris Grossman and KC Serna would both score on runs batted in by Trey Ford's single and Jason Martin's sacrifice fly. Jared Mortensen, Grand Prairie's starter did not allow another hit, leaving the game with one out in the sixth, his team still trailing 2-0.

Stephen Nickonchik recorded the last two outs of the sixth and first out of the seventh, while giving up two hits and striking out one. David Quinowski faced Chris Valencia and allowed a hit to the Sox right fielder. And then Chase Johnson, for the Airhogs, recorded a fly-out to right. The next batter, Cory Patton faced Boomer Potts and struck out to end the inning with two runners on base. Grand Prairie used four different pitchers during the seventh.

Potts continued in the eighth and ninth, giving up just one hit, striking out one, walking one, and intentionally walking another. Kristhiam Linares pitched the eighth inning for Amarillo, retiring his three batters faced. Erik Draxton allowed a leadoff single to Chad Mozingo in the ninth and then another single to Ryan Pineda two batters later. Andres Rodriguez came up and grounded to the shortstop which resulted in a bases loaded situation after Trey Ford was ruled not in control of the baseball when he stepped on second base for the potential force-out. On the next play, the runners from second and third scored on a Palmer Karr single up the middle, tying the game. Freddy Flores, Amarillo's pitching coach would be ejected from throwing a bat on the field following the game-tying single. The Sox would leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth after Joe Weik was given first base in order for Potts, the left-hander, to face Cory Patton. Patton grounded out to send the game into extra innings.

In the tenth, the Airhogs got two in scoring position because of a single by Rian Kiniry and a double by Chad Mozingo. Erik Draxton intentionally walked the next batter and was replaced by Josh Giles with the bases loaded. Giles' third pitch to the plate got by Chris Grossman for Grand Prairie's go-ahead run. After a batter was walked, Andres Rodriguez brought in two more runs with a single to right field. The Sox turned the only double play of the game when Karr grounded to third, ending the top of the tenth. Patrick Mincey (S, 19) put the Sox down in succession for the bottom of the inning, while striking out a batter. Mincey earned his second save in two nights.

Boomer Potts (W, 4-1) pitched two and a third innings for the Airhogs out of the bullpen. The Sox closer, Erik Draxton (L, 1-4) blew the save and allowed five runs, four earned on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

With the loss, the Sox fall to 41-41, while the Airhogs improve to 45-37 on the season. Wednesday, the Sox host Grand Prairie for the third of a four-game series. Game time is set for 7:05pm with the pregame show starting at 6:55pm on Ustream via www.amarillosox.com .

Season tickets are available for purchase in-person by visiting the Sox Front Offices at 801 S. Polk or over the phone by calling (806) 242-4653. For more information on tickets, game times and schedules, promotions, marketing opportunities, and everything else Sox, visit the "Official Website of the Amarillo Sox" at www.amarillosox.com.

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