Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Rodriguez homers, doubles, knocks in three

AMARILLO, Texas – Brian Myrow Andres Rodriguez came through with a pair of big two-run hits in the eighth inning, and the Grand Prairie AirHogs came back from a two-run, eighth-inning deficit to beat the Amarillo Sox 7-5 at Amarillo National Bank Sox Stadium on Wednesday to end a five-game losing streak.

Grand Prairie (45-38) took the lead on an RBI groundout by John Alonso in the first, but the Sox (39-44) got it back in the third on a walk, hit and error. The AirHogs went back on top on a two-out RBI hit by Keanon Simon in the fifth, but the Sox again tied it with a two-out rally, getting a single, a passed ball and another single to tie it at 2-2.

Rodriguez lined the first pitch of the sixth against Amarillo starter Chuck Lofgren over the leftfield wall for his 13^th home run of the year, and John Brownell made that lead stand up with a three-batter sixth. But after leaving the bases loaded in the fifth and sixth, with two more in the seventh, the AirHogs rued their lack of insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh.

With one out, Jake Luce singled and stole second, before Danny Gallinot struck out. Derrick Miramontes (5-1) came in and walked leadoff hitter Garrett Rau, but it looked like he would get out of the inning when Adam Buschini grounded one to first. But the ball hopped up and off the shoulder of John Alonso for a two-run double, and Tim Alberts followed that with a triple to right-center to give the Sox a 5-3 lead.

But in the eighth, the AirHogs fought back. Yasutsugu Nishimoto laid down a bunt hit and went to second on Van Pope’s throwing error. Johnny Kaplan then singled to put runners at the corners, and reliever Jack Spradlin was replaced by Chase Johnson (4-3). Johnson walked Keanon Simon to load the bases, and after falling behind 0-2, Brian Myrow got the count even before grounding a ball through the right side for a two-run hit to tie the game.

Alonso then walked, before Myrow was doubled off second on Trent Lockwood’s liner to second baseman Buschini. But after a wild pitch moved Alonso to second, Rodriguez ripped a grounder inside third down the leftfield line to score two and give Grand Prairie the lead for good.

Adam Miller worked around two singles in the eighth with the help of a double play, and Justin Dowdy got around a leadoff walk with two strikeouts in the ninth for his 15^th save of the season.

Notes: Eight Sox players had at least one hit, while seven AirHogs had at least one…Amarillo used seven pitchers…The AirHogs left 13 men on base…Each team had 12 hits…Five AirHogs had multi-hit games.

The 2011 American Association Champion Grand Prairie AirHogs conclude their three-game series against the Amarillo Sox on Thursday, August 16, at 7:05 p.m. The next home game at QuikTrip Park is Friday, August 17, against the El Paso Diablos, at 7:05 p.m. That night is Tecate Jerseys off our Backs Night, as well as a free QuikTrip Night with vouches available at local QuikTrip stores. That night is also Pirate Night, with a performance by the Bilge Pumps. 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.