Saturday, July 14, 2012

This time big inning comes in second

FARGO, N.D. – For the third day in a row, the Grand Prairie AirHogs took an early lead on the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, and for the third straight day, the RedHawks came back with an offensive onslaught, scoring five in the second and four in the fourth to start a rout as they beat the AirHogs 10-4 at Newman Outdoor Field on Saturday.

Fargo-Moorhead (32-21) won for the 11^th game in a row, as the AirHogs (37-17) lost for the third straight time – the first time they have done that or lost a series since June 1-3 at Wichita.

Andres Rodriguez’s RBI single in the first put the AirHogs on top, but after Ramon Garcia (0-2) got around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first, he ran into trouble in the second.

Eric Campbell led off with a shallow fly to left that was lost by Yasutsugu Nishimoto for a single, before Jon Gaston flied out to center. Ryan Delgado followed with a double to left-center and Marcos Rodriguez pulled a ball down the first-base line to bring in the first two RedHawks runs. Todd Jennings then walked and Carlo Cota doubled down the third-base line to bring in Rodriguez. Zach Penprase followed with a two-run single to make it 5-1.

The AirHogs never got closer than three the rest of the way, scoring on run in the third on Brian Myrow’s RBI double before the RedHawks scored four in the fourth to chase Garcia.

Both teams scored in the fifth, but the AirHogs could have made it a bigger inning. With the bases loaded on two walks and a hit batter, RedHawks starterTyler Herron (4-3) induced a 4-6-3 double play from Rodriguez before Greg Porter flied out to end the inning.

Another potential big inning was cut to just one in the seventh, as the first three AirHogs had hits to plate a run, but lefty Dan Morari struck out Myrow on a close 3-2 pitch before Rodriguez popped out and Porter grounded out.

Notes: Myrow and AirHogs manager Ricky VanAsselberg were both ejected by home plate umpire Chris Bakke in the bottom of the seventh after a close pitch to Carlo Cota was ruled a ball…Cody White went three innings in relief of Garcia, allowing only one run, to help save the recently overworked Grand Prairie bullpen…Derrick Miramontes then got the final four outs on four flyouts.

The 2011 American Association Champion Grand Prairie AirHogs conclude their four-game series against the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks on Sunday, July 15, at 1:00 p.m. The next home game at QuikTrip Park is on Friday, June 20, at 7:05 against the Kansas City T-Bones, with Coors Light Jerseys off our Backs Night, where all fans will have a chance to win the AirHogs’ specialty jerseys right off their backs. 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.