Round Rock
The Express has hit a rough stretch. Friday night, Runelvys Hernandez had pitched five shutout innings and was staked to a 3-0 lead. Then came a 3 run sixth and a 2 run 8th for Colorado Springs while the Express couldn’t push another runner home. The final result was a 5-3 loss.
Since the Express couldn’t hold the 3-0 lead on Friday, they decided to build a bigger lead on Saturday. They scored two runs in both the 2nd & 4th innings and then added four more in the 6th after the Bees had gotten their first run of the night. Going into the bottom of the 6th, you would have thought an 8-1 lead was safe. Not with this edition of the Express. The Bees got two more runs back in the bottom of the 6th. Kyle Middleton, who was activated off the DL in Corpus Christi and then promoted to Round Rock came out in the 7th. He only lasted 1/3 of an inning and gave up 3 runs. Then Ryan Houston came on and surrendered three more runs without getting a batter out. That made it 9-8, which is how it ended.
Sunday night, the tough losses kept coming. J. R. House homered in the 9th to send the game to extras. Edwin Maysonet homered in the 12th to give the Express the lead but they couldn’t hold it and lost 5-4 in 14.
Corpus Christi
Friday, the Hooks had a team cycle in the 3rd inning en route to a 16-3 stomping of the Frisco Roughriders.
Corpus Christi hit for the cycle during the frame, which featured a RBI triple from Sheldon, another RBI double from Hart, run-scoring singles from Ray Sadler and Chris Johnson and Sutton’s two-run homer that capped the scoring for a 10-2 lead.
In the game, the Hooks hit 7 doubles, 1 triple, and 2 home runs. Ole Sheldon finished a single short of the individual cycle.
Chance Douglass got the win and pulled into the lead for most wins in Hooks history.
“It’s one of those cases where you can think of it as a dubious honor,” Douglass said. “But it’s rewarding to know that I’ve been able to perform well every time I’ve been here, for this team and these fans.”
Saturday, Corpus Christi got out of the gate early with 6 runs in the first 3 innings and held on for a 6-4 win. Tommy Manzella was back in the line up after leaving Thursday’s game with back spasms. Brad James got his 4th win of the season. He pitched survived 5 innings of 9 hit ball only allowing 1 run. He gave up 2 walks and sent 7 Roughriders back to the pine with the bat in their hand.
Sunday, the game was postponed due to weather.
Salem
Friday, the Avs ended a 5 game drought in a 10-4 victory over Winston Salem. Koby Clemens hit a sole home run and drove in 4 runs total. His homer was the first for Salem since April 25th.
Saturday, David Qualben took the loss and his record dropped to 1-5 on the season. He also allowed 3 stolen bases without picking any runners off. The Avs almost came back but could only get 2 runs in the 9th to fall on the short end of a 4-3 final.
Sunday’s game was postponed due to weather.
Lexington
Friday, the Legends were swept in two close games. In game one, Joe Melton made his Legends debut memorable going 3-3.
“Just trying to stay on the right side,” said Melton, a right-handed hitter who went the other way for all of his hits. “From extended spring training, that’s all I worked on the whole time — working on the middle, away. I just brought it out to the field.”
In the second game, Sergio Severino got out of a bases loaded jam in the second but wasn’t so lucky getting out of trouble in the third.
…back-to-back infield singles to start the third inning put the pressure on again. Severino got Henson to ground into a fielder’s choice.
Mahoney crushed the next pitch far over the right field deck for an instant 3-0 lead.
“I was sitting fastball, first pitch,” Mahoney said. “I was taking a lot of first pitches earlier in the day, so I was just hoping he’d groove one in there like he did.”
The Legends battled back in both games and had manager Greg Langbehn feeling better about his team:
“Put ourselves in position — first and third, one out at the end of the game,” Legends Manager Gregg Langbehn said of the opener. “We just didn’t come through with it.
“It’s still an encouraging sign to me. They could have easily given up. But that’s in the past. They’re playing hard. Again, it goes down to a play or two here and there, and it’s just not happening.”
Saturday, the Legends got that play here or there and survived a 9th inning scare to pull off a 3-2 victory. Starter Colt Adams strained his biceps on his final pitch in the first inning. Jacob Leonhardt came on in relief and got the win pitching 6 solid innings.
Sunday’s game was a wash. Postponed due to weather.
Max Sapp returned this weekend as a DH. He was hitless in two games this weekend. He should begin catching again this week.