Wednesday, June 27, 2012

AirHogs score two in ninth after Tornadoes take lead in seventh 

WORCESTER, Mass. – After beginning their road trip with an 11-inning comeback win in Rockland, the Grand Prairie AirHogs finished it with two ninth-inning runs in Worcester, coming back to beat the Worcester Tornadoes 4-3 at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field on Wednesday.

Greg Porter and Trent Lockwood hit the first two pitches of the inning for doubles to tie the game against Tornadoes starter Ryan Bicondoa (1-4), before he was removed for righty reliever Matt McDonald. David Thomas bunted Lockwood to third, and Zane Chavez followed that with a single through the drawn-in infield to give the AirHogs (26-13) the lead again.

It was a lead that was built on a two-run single by Yasutsugu Nishimoto in the third, but the AirHogs did not get anything more against Bicondoa until the ninth.

Meanwhile, Lance Day pitched around three hits and a walk through the first six innings, but was pulled after giving up a single and a double to start the bottom of the sixth.

Griffin Bailey came in and gave up a first-pitch, game-tying double to Brendon Kelliher, before a sacrifice bunt and an RBI single by Cameron Monger gave Worcester (14-25) the lead. But Bailey got a double play from Alex Nunez to end the inning, and Ronnie Morales (2-1) and Justin Dowdy retired all six Tornadoes they faced to finish the road trip for the AirHogs at 7-3, with Dowdy picking up his eighth save of the season.

Notes: All seven AirHogs hits came from the bottom six in the batting order…The one run charged to Bailey was the first allowed by the AirHogs bullpen in 13 2/3 innings this series…Grand Prairie has now won five straight series…The AirHogs finished interleague play 10-3 and won all four series against the Can-Am League.

The 2011 American Association Champion Grand Prairie AirHogs now return home to start an eight-game homestand, with a four-game series against the Amarillo Sox beginning at QuikTrip Park on Friday, June 29, at 7:05 p.m. That night is QuikTrip Night, with free ticket vouchers available at local QuikTrip stores. All games are aired live and for free on Ustream by clicking on the link on the AirHogs’ home page or visiting http://www.ustream.tv/channel/airhogs-baseball with selected contests aired on Time Warner Cable’s Texas Channel. For information on tickets, promotions, advertising, and other opportunities with the AirHogs, check out the Web site at www.airhogsbaseball.com, or call the QuikTrip Park office at (972) 504-9383.