Wingnuts Game Recap: Clevlen, Wingnuts Hammer Blasters; Win Series
Published on July 2, 2016 under American Association (AA)
Wichita Wingnuts News Release
JOPLIN, Mo. - Brent Clevlen hit a pair of home runs and drove in five as the Wichita Wingnuts routed the Joplin Blasters 12-2 Saturday night at Joe Becker Stadium to claim their eighth consecutive series victory.
Trailing 1-0 in the third, Christian Stringer bunted his way aboard with a single to start the inning. One out later, Clevlen took Raul Rivera (0-1) deep for a two-run shot to put the Wingnuts (25-16) in front. Later in the inning, Harrison Kain added an RBI single to push the lead to 3-1.
Wichita then tacked on three more in the fifth. Zack Cox started the inning with a solo shot, his third long ball of the season, and with two outs, Brennen Salgado added a two-run single to make it 6-1.
The visitors added to their lead in the next inning, plating two without the benefit of a hit. Three walks, one of which was intentional, and three wild pitches, allowed both Stringer and Cox to score to push the lead to seven.
The run support was plenty for Eddie Medina (1-3) who made his best start of the season after being activated from the disabled list earlier in the day. Joplin (14-27) took advantage of an error to open the scoring in the bottom of the first, but Medina took control from there, not allowing another run until his last inning, the seventh. Overall, the righty gave up one earned run on six hits with a pair of strikeouts in seven innings to earn his first win of 2016.
The Wingnut offense continued to tack on in the late innings, as the Blasters were forced to use two position players, Mitch Glasser and Axel Johnson, in the eighth and ninth. Martin Medina picked up an RBI single in the eighth, before Clevlen launched a three-run shot off of Johnson in the ninth, making him the first Wichita player to have a multi-homer game this season.
It was the 41st time in Wingnut history that a player has posted a multi-homer game, and first since Andy LaRoche had a pair of long balls against St. Paul on August 26 of last year.
The Wingnuts go for a sweep of their series with the Blasters Sunday evening at Joe Becker Stadium. Wichita will turn to veteran righty Tim Brown (4-2, 5.77), while Joplin will counter with fellow right-hander Carlos Fuentes (0-2, 3.40) First pitch is set for 5:05, and the game can be heard on 1410 AM KGSO, as well as on TuneIn.
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