After the disappointment of Friday night’s bang-bang call at the plate that erased the tying run and ended the game, Hub City (3-4) took another crack at trying to secure no worse than a split in this 6-game set with the Aberdeen Ironbirds (3-4).
Mason Molina made his first start at home since joining the Spartanburgers in Bowling Green last week, taking the roster spot vacated by the promotion of David Davalillo. He came out strong on Saturday night, mixing a fastball that consistently hit 93-94 on the gun and a changeup that dropped to as low as 82. In his first three frames, he retired the side in order twice with 4 strikeouts. The lone base runner he allowed in that stretch was a 2 out walk to Aneudis Moran, who he later left stranded on 2nd despite an errant pickoff throw.
Hub City’s offense gave him some early support, pushing across a run in the bottom of the first off Aberdeen righty Michael Forret (1-1, 1.34 ERA). The Spartanburgers strung together three base hits in the frame, starting with a 1 out knock from Casey Cook – his 5th hit in the last 6 plate appearances. After Malcolm Moore legged out a fielder’s choice that Cook was forced on 4-6 and an errant pickoff throw from the catcher, Gleider Figuereo broke the goose egg with a knock. Yeison Morrobel kept the line going with a base hit to put a man in scoring position for Cal Stark, but he struck out swinging to leave both on.
That was all the run support they gave him as they left a runner on over each of the next three innings. In the interim, Molina ran into command issues in the top of the 4th. He walked the first two hitters of the frame – Vance Honeycutt and Aron Estrada. His struggles to get back into the strike zone during the inning led to a couple of run-scoring wild pitches, giving the Ironbirds a 2-1 lead.
Molina eventually got out of that inning, going on to toss 1 more complete, later to be replaced by Joey Danielson to start the 6th. Molina’s final line was 5 innings, 6 strikeouts, 3 walks, 1 hit, and 2 earned runs. Joey Danielson and Mailon Felix combined to hang a zero in each of the next 2 innings, albeit not without some drama. Back to back 2 out singles and a stolen base in the 7th were averted when Leandro Arias popped up to third. After getting the first 2 outs of the 8th, Danielson was replaced by Mailon Felix, who struggled with command, giving up a single to his first hitter and back to back bases on balls. But, he got out of the jam when Vance Honeycutt popped up to the catcher.
Willian Bormie was called on to try and build off his two-inning save on Tuesday, pitching the final 2 innings. His first was another scoreless three up three down frame. But like the 2 before him, he also struggled with command his 2nd time out. After a couple of singles from the first 2 batters of the frame, He walked Griff O’Ferrall and Vance Honeycutt back to back – the 2nd forcing home Aneudis Mordan to make it 3-1 heading to the bottom of the ninth.
The Burgers’ last stand got off to a promising start as Cal Stark drew a leadoff walk. But, that was the peak of the inning’s promise as Rafe Perich grounded into a 4-6-3 twin killing and Quincy Scott was rung up looking to end the game.
With the 3-1 loss, Hub City’s best hope is to win the finale Sunday afternoon to salvage a split in the series. They will lean on Jose Gonzalez (1-6, 2.92) as he faces lefty Juan Rojas (1-6, 4.10). First pitch is set for 2:05 PM.
