Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Down by two, Grand Prairie gets five straight hits to win

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – For eight innings, the Grand Prairie AirHogs mustered only three hits and two walks against Sioux City Explorers starter Nick Schumacher, and trailed 3-1 after a strange top of the seventh gave the Explorers two runs on no hits. But the AirHogs rapped out five hits in a row to start the bottom of the ninth against Sioux City closer Chris Bodishbaugh to beat the Explorers 4-3 at QuikTrip Park on Tuesday.

Keanon Simon began the comeback inning with a single to left against Bodishbaugh (6-3), before Jonny Kaplan hit a ground-ball double right over third. Jairo Perez followed with a single through the left side to bring the AirHogs (43-33) to within one, before Andres Rodriguez lined one over second to tie the game.

That brought up Chris McMurray, who grounded a ball off of Bodisbaugh’s glove that deflected up the middle and was grabbed by a diving Brian Bistagne. But the Explorers’ second baseman’s throw was too late to get Perez and the AirHogs celebrated their second straight win.

Grand Prairie had an early lead off Schumacher on Trent Lockwood’s 11^th home run of the season with two outs in the second inning. But they did not get another hit off Schumacher until the eighth, while the Explorers (34-42) battled back off Josh Strawn. Ray Serrano singled with one out in the fourth and went to second on a wild pitch, before Yusuke Inoguchi’s single tied the game.

In the seventh, Inoguchi walked to start the inning, before Perez bobbled Ryan Priddy’s bunt to put two on with no out. Mike Murphy fouled off two bunts before being ruled to have fouled off a third one for a strikeout after the umpires initially awarded him first base on a hit by pitch. Ronnie Morales then came in for Strawn, and Brandon Newton bounced a slow grounder up the middle, and Inoguchi beat shortstop Yasutsugu Nishimoto’s throw home to give the X’s the lead.

Another error in the inning – on a dropped pickoff throw at first – gave the Explorers a third run, before Morales struck out the final two hitters in the frame.

Schumacher got around a hit and a walk in the eighth, while Derrick Miramontes (5-1) allowed a hit and a walk in two innings, getting the final runner of the ninth on a relay throw to the plate after Newton doubled to right-center.

Notes: The Explorers had been 26-0 when leading after eight innings before this game…The AirHogs won for the third time in 31 chances this year when down after eight (and for the first time at home)…Strawn tied the American Association record with five assists as a pitcher…Trent Lockwood recorded 15 putouts…Rodriguez was the only player on either team with more than one hit.

The 2011 American Association Champion Grand Prairie AirHogs continue their three-game series against the Sioux City Explorers on Wednesday, August 8, at 7:05 p.m. 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.