Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Despite three new additions to lineup, AirHogs lose fifth straight

EL PASO, Texas – The Grand Prairie AirHogs added three new players to their lineup on Tuesday, and they scored eight runs on 13 hits, but it was not nearly enough as the El Paso Diablos took advantage of five AirHogs errors to score nine unearned runs and beat the AirHogs 16-8 at Cohen Stadium.

Grand Prairie (40-29) took the lead in the first on a passed ball, but the Diablos (30-36) tied it with three straight two-out hits off John Brownell (7-4).

Neither team scored in the second and the AirHogs stranded a runner at second in the third, before the Diablos took the lead for good. Jordan Marks and Maikol Gonzalez singled to start the inning, before a wild pitch moved them up. Brownell kept them at second and third with a groundout by Reid Fronk and a strikeout of Mitch Einertson, but Welington Dotel blooped a 1-2 pitch to right to knock both runners in and give El Paso the lead.

Two errors later that inning and a ssingle by Zane Chavez allowed Dotel and Jermy Acey to score, and the Diablos used a wild pitch and another error in the fourth to bat around and score four more.

Grand Prairie got one back in the fourth and one in the sixth against David Casillas (3-0), chasing him with two in the seventh to cut the El Paso lead to 9-5. But after Andres Rodriguez’s RBI single off Ronny Morla, lefty Steven Evarts got a pair of ground balls from lefties Trent Lockwood and James McOwen to end the inning.

Meanwhile, the Diablos took advantage of an error and a passed ball to send 10 to the plate and score five in the bottom of the seventh, before a two-run homer from Gonzalez made it 16-5 in the eighth.

Notes: The three new additions were Jairo Perez (acquired for Greg Porter – 2-for-5), McOwen (acquired in a three-way trade from Long Island via Abilene – 1-for-4) and former Diablos manager and current AirHogs hitting coach Jorge Alvarez, playing for the first time since 2010 (0-for-5)…This is the second game in a row the AirHogs have allowed at least three innings of at least eight batters or more…Each team left nine men on base…Brian Myrow went 2-for-2 with three walks for Grand Prairie, and Chris McMurray went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs.

The 2011 American Association Champion Grand Prairie AirHogs continue their  three-game series against the El Paso Diablos on Wednesday, August 1, at 8:05 p.m. Central Time. The next home game at QuikTrip Park is Friday, August 3, at 7:05 p.m. against the Laredo Lemurs. That night will feature a team card set giveaway, sponsored by Parkland Community Health Plan. 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.