Grand Prairie AirHogs Put the Hurt on Lincoln Saltdogs in 13-2 Thrashing - American Association

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – Lincoln, NE (06.28.08)-  The Grand Prairie AirHogs tied a season-high with 18 hits in a 13-2 slaughter over the Lincoln Saltdogs on Saturday night.

The Saltdogs jumped out to the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Dustin Yount parked a solo homerun into dead center to give Lincoln the early advantage.

Grand Prairie came right back in the top of the second inning to take the 2-1 lead. Drew Holder reached on a single and was moved over to third on a double down the right field line off the bat of Brandon Carter. Holder would tie the game up on a wild pitch that he came home on. David Espinosa gave the AirHogs the lead on an RBI single into short right field.

The AirHogs took the 3-1 advantage in the top of the third inning. With the bases loaded and one away, Drew Holder scorched a grounder to third base and reached on a fielder’s choice RBI as Shea McFeely tagged third

ADVERTISEMENT base and didn’t fire to first base in time for the final out.

Lincoln used a bizarre running play to set themselves up for their second run. Johnny Kaplan reached on a walk and attempted to steal second, but was caught in a run-down. He slid under an Espinosa tag half-way to second and kept running all the way to third base with no one covering the bag. He was plated on an RBI single up the middle by Skip Adams to cut the AirHogs lead to 3-2.

Billy Munoz came up with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth inning that brought in David Espinosa, giving Grand Prairie the 4-2 advantage.

Grand Prairie took the 11-2 lead in the top of the fifth, scoring seven runs thanks in part to three homers.  J.B. Tucker and Drew Holder parked solo shots, while Derek Nicholson juiced a three-run shot to dead center field. Grand Prairie has hit 10 homers over their last four games. Two more runs came in for the AirHogs in the top of the sixth as they took the 13-2 lead. They scored at least one run in every inning from the second to the sixth.

Justin Garcia (5-2) got the victory starting for Grand Prairie. He went six solid innings, giving up only two earned runs off of five hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

Jarrett Gardner (3-3) was the losing pitcher and had a horrendous start for the Saltdogs. He went just 4.2 innings and allowed nine runs, eight earned, with 12 hits and three strikeouts and three walks.

. The AirHogs will wrap up a four game road series against the Lincoln Salt Dogs on Sunday at 6:05 PM.  Scot Drucker (3-3, 3.09 ERA) will take on Brian Campbell (5-2, 3.98  ERA) as Grand Prairie looks for the sweep.

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