
Wingnuts Come from Behind Twice to Make History in 6-5 Win
August 28, 2014 - American Association (AA)
Wichita Wingnuts News Release
Grand Prairie, TX (August 27, 2014) - The Wichita Wingnuts made American Association history in two different categories on Wednesday night at QuikTrip Park and it was appropriate that it happened in the most thrilling of contests. They were able to erase two run leads by the Grand Prairie AirHogs in both the eighth and ninth innings on their way to a white-knuckle 6-5 win that pushed them past their 2013 win total of 68 with four games remaining. Jake Luce stole a base in the final inning, the second of the game for the visitors, to break the league record for single-season steals with 165 as well.
With starting pitchers Tim Brown of the Wingnuts (69-27) and Danny Gutierrez of the AirHogs throwing dueling shutouts through three frames, the game appeared destined to be a low-scoring affair for the third straight night, but a fourth inning solo home run by Jason Botts pushed Grand Prairie (40-56) in front 1-0.
The AirHogs would also score the next run of the game against Brown in the sixth inning. Alex Nunez reached second on a slap bunt, moved to third on another bunt, and was scored on a sacrifice fly before the inning reached its' conclusion by Brian Myrow.
Both pitchers would last through the seventh as they turned in quality starts. Brown put together his ninth in a row, allowing two runs on five hits in seven innings with four strikeouts. Gutierrez, two starts after no-hitting the Wingnuts into the eighth inning, worked seven shutout frames and scattered five hits. The right-hander struck out nine.
When Eric Champion went to the bullpen and brought in Trevor Harden, the Wingnuts were glad to see someone besides Gutierrez and it showed. Luce singled to begin the rally and moved to second on Ryan Khoury's walk. After an Abel Nieves fly ball, David Espinosa ripped a line drive single to load the bases. A wild pitch from Harden brought in Luce to trim the deficit to 2-1. The next batter, Victor Diaz, crushed a line drive past the third baseman and into the left field corner to score both runners left on base and give Wichita a late lead.
However, the AirHogs weren't done yet. Nunez flipped a leadoff double to left against Chris Peacock (2-0) in the bottom half and moved to third on a fielder's choice groundout by Brian Peterson. With the infield drawn in, Botts rolled a single through the right side to tie the score. After Peacock fanned Myrow, Matt Burns, who had three home runs to that point in the season, launched a go-ahead two-run shot to left that put Wichita in a late hole again at 5-3.
The Nuts were facing a familiar face in reliever Alex Hinshaw during the ninth as he came on to try and earn his sixth save. The inning got started on a rough note for Grand Prairie when Alex Nunez dropped a high pop up off the bat of Chris McMurray at second base. Hinshaw followed by issuing a free pass to Jared McDonald. Luce laid down a bunt to the left of the mound in the ensuing at bat that Hinshaw picked up and threw wide of first to allow McMurray to race home and cut the Grand Prairie lead to one. Khoury made contact on a tough two strike pitch and hit a slow roller back to the mound that left the pitcher with only one play and that was to first. The game was tied with a runner on second and just one out. On the record-breaking play, Luce took off for third and slid in safely while the throw from Peterson got away and rolled into left. Luce stood up and raced home with the go-ahead run. The previous record for stolen bags in one season was Gary SouthShore in 2012 with 164.
With the closer Dan Sattler unavailable after pitching in each of the three previous games, Chase Johnson came out of the pen to try and close it out. Johnson had no issues as he got a pop out, strikeout and line drive out to end it in one, two, three fashion for his first save.
The Wingnuts will take Thursday off before welcoming the Laredo Lemurs to town on Friday for a regular season ending four game set. Friday's game will get underway at 7:05 p.m. There will be a post-game fireworks show following the conclusion. For information on season tickets, group outings, and party packages, call the Wingnuts' main office at (316) 264-NUTS, or visit the Wingnuts' official website at www.wichitawingnuts.com .
American Association Stories from August 28, 2014
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- T-Bones Promotions: August 29-September 1 - Kansas City Monarchs
- Offense Rolls Again as Cats Beat Explorers - Gary SouthShore Railcats
- Wingnuts Come from Behind Twice to Make History in 6-5 Win - Wichita Wingnuts
- Sioux City Plagued by Errors, Big Inning - Sioux City Explorers
- American Association Game Recaps - AA
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