Hub City entered the All Star Break having won 9 of their last 12 and sitting in first place in the SAL South 2nd half standings by 2 games. They would have a tough cookie in a 3-game home set with Mets high A affiliate and North Division First Half Champion the Brooklyn Cyclones (11-10, 57-30 overall).
The story of this game early on was pitching. These 2 clubs are in the top 3 in the South Atlantic League – Brooklyn ranking first with 917 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of just .206 against them. The Spartanburgers entered the weekend ranked third as a staff with 863 K’s and a .219 average against them. In this matchup, Dalton Pence (1-1, 1.64 ERA) got the spot start and ran into some early issues. He walked right fielder Eli Serrano III. Center Fielder AJ Ewing followed it with a single. But that was the only 2 base runners Pence allowed in three innings. He settled in nicely, retiring each of the next 8 with four strikeouts en route to 3 shutout innings.
On the flipside, Brooklyn right hander Brendan Girton (3-2, 2.69) mowed the Burgers down, sitting down each of the first 10 batters he faced before Dylan Dreiling reached on a wild pitch that he swung through for strike three. Unfortunately, that was part of a 4 K inning for Girton, who ended up going 4 and two thirds with nine K’s, no walks, and a shutout with run support coming his way on a 2 out 2-run homer in the top of the 5th from 9-hole hitter and DH Troy Schreffler Jr off reliever Dylan MacLean. Anthony Susac gave up 2 more in the next inning after a leadoff walk to Serrano followed by a 2-bagger from Ewing were cashed in with consecutive RBI sacrifice flies from third baseman Colin Houck and shortstop Boston Baro.
The Cyclone no-hitter was preserved until the bottom of the 7th, when Dylan Dreiling once again made his presence known with a leadoff triple to center. He would later score when Gleider Figuereo brought some Figgy Pudding to the Christmas Party with a 1 out two-run line shot into the visitor bullpen to cut the Cyclones’ lead in twixt. Casey Cook drew a walk to follow it, but was caught stealing ahead of a Yeison Morrobel strikeout looking to end the inning, with the Burgers trailing 4-2.
The Burger bullpen did their job the rest of the way shutting Brooklyn down while striking out 4 with 3 walks and 2 hits, setting the stage for some late-game heroics.
Dylan Dreiling reached for the 3rd time on the night with a leadoff base knock followed by a Malcolm Moore walk. Figuereo walked to put sugarplums on the Christmas tree for Casey Cook, who brought the Burgers within a run by reaching on a fielders’ choice where Figgy was forced at 2nd 6 unassisted. Rafe Perich reloaded the bases with a pinch hit intentional walk, which put the game in the hands of Arturo Disla. It did not take long for that gamble to backfire as Disla lined the first pitch into the left center gap for a walkoff 2 run double.
With a huge 5-4 win, Hub City looks to build on it in game 2 with a chance to win the series Saturday night as Kolton Curtis (2-2, 5.77) takes the ball opposite righty Will Watson (0-2, 2.64). First pitch is set for 6:35 PM.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login