Burger Rally Dashed in Game 2

After a dramatic comeback 5-4 win in the opener, Hub City looked to get above .500 on the half, calling on J’Briell Easley to get the ball rolling.

Easley (0-1, 4.60 ERA) was also looking to get back on track after failing to get out of the first inning in his last start in Frederick allowing each of the first three batters to reach before giving up a grand slam to the next man up. He was yanked in that game with two out. In Wednesday night’s game, things got off to an ideal start for him, striking out a pair looking in a clean first inning, but he ran into a wall in the second.

George Wolkow led off with a double to left followed by a walk to catcher Ryan Galvan. Easley was able to record an out, getting right fielder James Taussig to ground into a fielder’s choice. He reached as Galvan was forced, and third baseman Arxy Hernandez later drew a walk to load the bases. Left fielder Ely Brown dealt the first of back to back blows, driving in two with a double followed by a two-RBI single from second baseman Bryce Eblin.

Easley was then taken down for left hander Owen Proksch, who got out of the inning by striking out shortstop Kyle Lodise after Eblin was gunned out on a back pick to first.

On the other end, Winston-Salem left hander Justin Sinibaldi cruised. Through the first four innings, he allowed just four base runners. Luke Hanson hit a ground rule double to center with one out in the first, but was left on. In the bottom of the third, Hector Osorio singled with two away, but he was forced out to end the inning on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Hanson.

In the fourth, Hub City got a runner aboard via a Maxton Martin single with one down, but he was thrown out at 2nd on an odd play where Ben Hartl popped up towards first. The ball tailed back into fair territory in front of the bag, dropping to the dirt in front of the first baseman. Martin had nowhere to go as he waited to ensure the ball would not be caught, making him a dead duck after the late break for second, forced 3-6 on the fielder’s choice for the second out. Gleider Figuereo lined sharply to third to end the inning.

The home half of the fifth made for the biggest threat of the night from the Burgers up to that point after consecutive one out infield singles from Carter Garate and Chandler Pollard , the latter of which was on a bunt pushed up the first base line. However, it would fall by the wayside when Osorio grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Hub City managed to crack the scoreboard at long last in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a leadoff 410 foot shot to the berm in left from Hanson. Sinibaldi rebounded by getting the next two before being taken down. In total, the Winston-Salem lefty went five and two-thirds, allowing just the one run on six hits while striking out five with no walks.

Back to the Hub City side of the pitching coin, Proksch kept the Dash off the scoreboard for two and two-thirds hitless with no walks and three strikeouts. Brock Porter tossed another two and a third, allowing the Dash an insurance run in the fifth after beaning Eblin to lead off. Lodise followed it with a two-bagger to the left field corner, scoring Eblin from first, making for a 5-0 Winston-Salem lead at that point. But, Porter was able to get out of the frame with no further damage, in the end striking out five and walking three with four hits.

The Burgers showed some fight in the bottom of the eighth with a rally that was sparked when Osorio drew a walk with one out. After Hanson whiffed, Figuereo and Martin singled back to back, the latter plating Osorio. Ben Hartl then worked a base on balls to load the sacks, setting up a two-run base knock from Esteban Mejia that brought Hub City within a run. But, Theo Hardy struck out swinging to end the rally.

The Dash struck right back in the ensuing half inning against Case Matter, who struggled with his command, walking each of the first three hitters of the frame. Arxy Hernandez kept the line moving with an RBI knock and with one out, Eblin lifted a sac fly to right to plate Galvan, making for a 7-4 advantage heading to the bottom of the ninth.

Sadly, Hub City would go down anticlimactically, evening the series at a game a piece and falling to 2-3 on the second half. The series continues tomorrow night at 6:35 as Kamdyn Perry (0-1, 6.06 ERA) faces an arm to be named later.