Burgers, Dash Have Slugfest on Thursday

Last night in the second game of the series, Hub City pitching struggled to limit free passes, walking 11 batters and hitting two more. That ended up making the difference in the game as starter J’Briell Easley did not make it out of the second inning. The bullpen gave up just one run the rest of the way, allowing the offense to chip back into the game with a three run eighth, but again the free passes haunted in the top of the ninth as the Dash went on to even the series with a 7-4 victory. 

In Thursday night’s game, Kamdyn Perry (0-1, 6.06 ERA) was called on to help keep the Dash at bay so the Burgers could re-take the lead in the series. However, he was unable to, instead continuing the trend from Wednesday. 

Perry beaned Kyle Lodise in the crown of his helmet on the game’s fourth pitch and struggled to find a rhythm afterwards. Ryan Burrowes and Boston Smith strung together back to back singles, the latter plating the first run. Kamdyn found a groove, striking out the next two, but then the walk bug bit again, loading the bases with a pass to Arxy Hernandez forcing in a second run on a walk to Ely Brown. 

That prompted a call to the bullpen for Ben DeTaeye, who promptly got out of the inning by striking out Bryce Eblin on three pitches, but the Burgers once again found themselves in an early hole before the bats even had a chance to come to the plate for the first time. 

That hole only got bigger with the combined struggles of the offense, which squandered a two out walk to Hector Osorio in the first and a one out triple to straightaway center from Antonis Macias in the second, and a tough third inning for DeTaeye. 

That frame began with a strikeout of James Taussig. But, three pitches later, Hernandez drove one into the bullpen in right for a solo homer. Brown then walked on four pitches, later to score on a triple from Eblin, who came home on a sacrifice fly to left from Alex Ungar. Lodise drew a walk, but a dribbler in front of the plate went for a 2-3 putout to retire the side with the Dash lead stretched to 5-0. 

The Hub City offense managed to get on the rails in the bottom half, striking for a four-spot. Yeison Morrobel and Luke Hanson got the rally started with back to back singles. Osorio kept the line moving by reaching on a fly ball to left that was dropped at the fence for an error. Figuereo made it hurt with a bases-clearing triple to left center, later scoring on a sac fly to center from Maxton Martin. 

Antonis Macias kept the inning alive with a two out single, but was left on when Cal Stark lined to short. However, the Burgers had cut the deficit down to just a run, heading to the fourth down 5-4. That was short-lived as DeTaeye gave one back in the ensuing half inning when George Wolkow deposited the payoff pitch into Chaser’s Corner with one out, making it 6-4 heading to the home end of the frame. 

The seesaw tilted back towards Hub City in the bottom of the fourth when Theo Hardy drew a leadoff walk. A stolen base and a wild pitch later, he scored on a two out knock from Osorio that followed a walk to Hanson. Figuereo then dealt a massive blow with a no-doubt three run screamer high and deep into the bullpen in right, giving the Spartanburgers their first lead of the night and upping Gleider’s RBI total to six. 

After a call to the bullpen, Martin popped up to the third baseman in foul ground to end the inning, but the Burgers held an 8-6 advantage going to the fifth. 

Kai Wynyard held that lead with the first clean inning for either side on the night, striking out a pair. But, after Winston-Salem saw that three up three down frame and raised the Burgers one, Wolkow made Wynyard pay for a one out walk to Burrowes in the top of the sixth, sending a two-run game-tying shot to the berm in left with two away. After a single from James Taussig, Wynyard was pulled for Jesús Gamez, who got Hernandez to fly to right to retire the side, preserving the 8-8 tie. 

Gamez kept the game knotted, tossing two and a third scoreless in the end with four strikeouts, a walk, and a hit. Hub City was able to take advantage of that in the bottom of the eighth thanks to four straight bases on balls with one out to Morrobel, Hanson, Osorio, and Figuereo. Gleider’s gave the Burgers a 9-8 lead and seven RBIs on the night. But, the Spartanburgers left them loaded when Martin popped up to third in foul ground and Macias whiffed. That small detail would prove to be costly. 

Adrian Rodriguez was called on to try and close it out. However, he could not find the strike zone. After beaning Hernandez to start the inning, he walked Brown and Eblin, setting up a grand slam from the nine hole hitter Alex Ungar. They kept Rodriguez in after that, and he walked the next two with a wild pitch sandwiched in. Boston Smith followed that with a sac fly to right, scoring Lodise and advancing Burrowes on the throw. 

That was the end of the line for Rodriguez, as Theo Hardy had to come on to finish the frame. He surrendered an RBI sac fly to Wolkow charged to Rodriguez’s line. After a Taussig single and a walk to Hernandez, Brown flied to center to bring the inning to a merciful end. 

In the bottom half, Hub City went down quietly, sealing the 14-9 loss to drop to 1-2 on the series. 

They will look to break even on Friday night as Caden Scarborough (0-2, 1.76 ERA)  faces an arm to be named. First pitch is set for 7:05 PM.