Wingnuts Leave Bases Full in 9th and Fall to Sox 5-3
Published on July 3, 2014 under American Association (AA)
Wichita Wingnuts News Release
WICHITA, KS - The Wichita Wingnuts scored in just one inning on Wednesday night in their battle with the Amarillo Sox and it wasn't enough to hold off a late surge by the visitor, who escaped town with a 5-3 win and avoided the sweep. With the Lawrence-Dumont Stadium crowd rocking in the final inning, the Wingnuts loaded the bases with one out for the middle of their lineup, but could not cash in as the Sox ended the night slapping hands on the infield.
In the early innings, the game shaped up as a pitcher's duel between Tim Brown of the Wingnuts and Matt Larkins of the Sox. Each of them breezed through the first three innings, before Wichita (30-17) made the first mark on the scoreboard. When Brent Clevlen and J.T. Wise led off the fourth inning with back-to-back singles the, Wingnuts put themselves in position to inflict some damage. Chris McMurray took advantage, bouncing into a fielder's choice groundout back to Larkins to put the Nuts on top 1-0. Trevor Whyte followed with his second home run of the series, a two-run drive to right center, which made it 3-0.
Tim Brown continued to roll into the seventh, but fell victim to a flurry by Amarillo (17-28) in that inning. Jason Martin and Joe Weik singled to start the frame and then Cory Patton continued the string with a run-scoring base knock to put the Sox on the board. After the next hitter, Kyle Nichols, also singled to load the bases, Brown was removed. Kevin Hooper turned to Daniel Bennett, who was making his team-leading 23rd appearance. The first batter he faced, Kyle Bellows, hit a sacrifice fly to left field that cut the Nuts' lead to one at 3-2. Bennett worked through the jam without further damage. Both runs were charged to Brown, who went 6.0 innings and gave up just six hits, while striking out four.
The Wingnuts entered the eighth inning with a one-run lead, having gone 27-1 when leading after the seventh inning up to that point. Patrick Mincey (1-2), a huge part of that statistic, came on and got off to a decent start. He walked Derek Perren with one out, but then battled back to retire Martin for the second out of the inning. At that point, Amarillo flipped it into another gear. Weik ripped a single to put runners on the corners, prior to Patton muscling a bloop single into shallow right field to tie the game and leave runners on the corners. Patton took off towards second on a pitch with Kyle Nichols at the plate and forced a high throw from the Wingnuts' catcher, McMurray, that bounced off of Jake Kahaulelio's glove and into the outfield, allowing the go-ahead run, Weik, to scurry to the plate. After Nichols eventually walked, Mincey gave up a single to Kyle Bellows that pushed in another run and gave the Sox a 5-3 advantage.
After a scoreless inning by set-up man Cephas Howard in the eighth, the Wingnuts were left to try and come back against Sox closer Erik Draxton in the ninth. Trevor Whyte walked to start the inning and then an infield single by David Amberson put two on with nobody out. Chris McClendon put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move the tying run to second base. Ryan Khoury drew his second walk of the game moments later, to fill up the bases with Wingnuts. The two-hitter, Carlo Testa, struck out swinging and then Kahaulelio popped out in foul territory to end the game and give Draxton his sixth save of the year.
Adam Maxon (1-0) earned the first win of his professional career by working a scoreless seventh inning in which he stranded a couple of runners. Brent Clevlen was the only Wichita hitter with multiple knocks, finishing 2-4 with a double and a run scored. Daniel Bennett and Alan Williams each worked a scoreless inning in relief roles.
The Wingnuts will open a short three-game road series in Sioux City this weekend with a 7:05 p.m. start time on Thursday night. The Wingnuts will go with RHP Justin Klipp (4-2), while the Explorers will turn to RHP Michael Straka (4-3) in a match-up of two top ten pitchers in the American Association in ERA. the game can be heard on 92.7 KWME. 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.
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