Hub City entered Friday night in a rather precarious situation. With the loss last night, they found themselves at .500, a game and a half back in the standings – not from first place, which is now occupied by the Greenville Drive after Bowling Green was walked off 8-7 by Winston-Salem on Thursday, but from 2nd. The Burgers also needed to win three straight just to salvage a split in this series with the Wilmington Blue Rocks.
With David Davalillo (4-0, 1.09 ERA) going and the usual fervor of a near-sellout Friday night fireworks crowd, it felt like the conditions were right for the Spartanburgers to get off the schneid. However, the ideal rarely happens in this fickle sport we call baseball and those conditions quickly deteriorated.
From time to time, even an ace has an off night, and it became evident very early that Davalillo did not have it. With one out in the top of the 1st, he surrendered a double to Wilmington shortstop Cortland Lawson. He then beaned 1st baseman Branden Boisierre before allowing a third straight baserunner and the game’s first run on a double to Dorman alum and designated hitter TJ White. Second Baseman Marcus Brown added another with a sacrifice fly, making for a 2-0 deficit before the Spartanburgers even had a chance to bat for the first time.
Hub City did threaten in the home half of the inning after a leadoff single from Keith Jones II and a 2 out walk from Dylan Dreiling, who made his return after a 2 week stint on the injured list. It was all for naught as Gleider Figuereo went down on strikes to end the inning.
Davalillo’s 2nd frame unraveled the game for good. It started with a single from Catcher Matt Suggs. Jackson Ross was plunked to follow. With one away, Center Fielder Sam Petersen hit the first of back to back doubles – the 2nd from Lawson. Davalillo got the next man to ground out to 2nd, ending his night after an inning and 2 thirds. Willian Bormie replaced him and promptly gave up a 2 run homer to Tj White – giving him 3 RBIs in 2 plate appearances. A strikeout finally got the Burgers out of the inning, but they trailed 7-0.
Hub City got a promising start in the bottom of the 2nd when Yeison Morrobel led off with a base knock. However, that promise would be broken as the next three went down in order to leave him there – not to see another baserunner until the 6th inning on a 2 out Anthony Gutierrez walk.
The biggest positive in all of this for Hub City was the rebound of Eric Loomis. In game 2 of the series, Eric struggled with command, walking 4 and failing to record an out when he came in to try and finish the game with a 5-1 lead in the ninth. All 4 came around to score without the benefit of a hit in a game the Burgers eventually lost in extra innings 6-5. Tonight, circumstances of a blowout aside, he worked 2 scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts, no walks, and no hits.
Wilmington added the game’s final run in the top of the 7th when a leadoff walk to Petersen and a stolen base led to him coming home on a wild pitch after a grounder advanced him to 3rd. On the flipside, the Burgers had 2 more chances to at least not get shut out over the final 2 innings, only to strand 3 in scoring position, eventually being shutout 8-0 to drop below .500 for the first time this season.
The series resumes at 6:35 Saturday evening with DJ McCarty (0-2, 6.49 ERA) going up against left hander Alex Clemmey (2-4, 3.33).
