Sports stats



FL River City Rascals

Two-Out Rally, Solid Pitching Leads to Series Sweep

August 28, 2016 - Frontier League (FL)
River City Rascals News Release


Two-Out Rally, Solid Pitching Leads to Series Sweep and 11th Straight Win
Two-Out Rally, Solid Pitching Leads to Series Sweep and 11th Straight Win
(River City Rascals, Credit: Ricky Rick Photography)

Zeb Sneed notched his tenth quality start of the year and four consecutive hits in the bottom of the fourth inning was just enough for the River City Rascals (48-42) to extend their winning streak to eleven games with a 2-1 victory Sunday afternoon at CarShield Field against the Normal CornBelters (43-46). Along with the Rascals adding one more win to the longest winning streak in Manager Steve Brook's career, it was their seventh sweep and the Rascals are now three and a half games up for the final wild card spot with six games to play.

After scoring 39 runs over the previous three games, the opponent needed to find a pitcher to cool down the Rascals bats and for the Belters it was right-hander Chris Carmain's turn in the rotation.

Carmain's opposition on the mound was second year Rascal Zeb Sneed and they each kept the opponent off the scoreboard the first three innings despite each team having runners in scoring position.

The Rascals broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning and had a combined five baserunners in the inning. Johnny Morales led off with a four pitch walk and then an unsuccessful hit and run attempt from Josh Ludy got Morales doubled up and Carmain had two outs with cleanup hitter Josh Silver due up.

After falling behind in the count 0-2, Silver reached on a single and began a stretch of four consecutive hits from the hometown club. Jason Merjano followed Silver's up and then they both came around to score on a RBI single from Mike Jurgella and Kyle Gaedele.

The score remained 2-0 heading into the seventh with both starters still on the mound and heading into the frame, Rascals workhorse Zeb Sneed had three consecutive three up and three down innings.

"One night it's our offense and one night it's pitching, even when it's the pitching our offense still finds ways to get the job done and the two out rally was the difference tonight," manager Steve Brook said.

However, Nolan Meadows laced a seventh inning single on the eighth pitch of his at-bat and then with one out came around to score on an error from Rascals centerfielder Alexi Colon. The error was the same play as a single from Kelly that would have just moved Meadows to second base.

Kelly was also able to get to second on the play and that chased caused manager Steve Brook to go to his jam reliever, Nick Kennedy to try and keep the Rascals on top by one run.

Kennedy answered Brook's request with a ground out back to the mound and an inning ending strikeout.

Remaining in line for the win, Sneed allowed just the one unearned run on four hits and struck out five in six 1/3 innings.

"I thought I did a great job getting ahead in the counts and after not having a good outing against them my last time out, there was a burden in my soul to get after them. I threw what catcher Josh Ludy called and things turned out well," Sneed said.

The Rascals failed to add any insurance runs the remainder of the night against Carmain and the Belters reliever Brennan Smith. The Rascals could have used them as the Belters had a great chance to score in the eighth and the ninth.

In the eighth, Rascals right-hander Skylar Hunter took the mound and walked three but a pair of good defensive plays and a strikeout from his closer Zac Treece held the Belters scoreless.

Treece came back out for the ninth and was looking for his first four out save since July 26th against Lake Erie. The right-hander made it exciting as the Belters got a pair of singles but Treece struck out the side to earn save number 22 and seal the Rascals eleventh win in a row.

"Eleven is good, but hopefully we can make it 20 or more," starting right-hander Sneed said, who was credited for his eighth win of the year.

The quest for number 12 will begin Tuesday night in Florence, Kentucky, against the Freedom.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. eastern time with southpaw Dan Ludwig on the mound.

Check out the River City Rascals Statistics




Images from this story

Two-Out Rally, Solid Pitching Leads to Series Sweep and 11th Straight Win
Two-Out Rally, Solid Pitching Leads to Series Sweep and 11th Straight Win
(Ricky Rick Photography)		   



Frontier League Stories from August 28, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent River City Rascals Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central