MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - It was a pitcher's worst nightmare at Harry Grove Stadium this afternoon. The two teams combined for 22 hits, as the Frederick Keys beat the Kinston Indians in a slugfest, 12-6.
The Indians teed off on Keys starter Brandon Erbe early. Adam Davis and Beau Mills both walked. With one man out, Jared Geodert hit a three-run homerun, his second of the series, to give the K-Tribe a 3-0 lead.
The Keys would answer right back. With Chris Amador and Matt Wieters aboard, and one man out, Brandon Tripp hit a three-run homerun of his own to tie the ball game at three.
Kinston would regain the lead in the top of the second. Erbe walked Jason Denham and Davis. With two on and two out, back-to-back singles by Jared head and Mills scored two runs, giving the Indians a 5-3 lead.
The Keys again would answer right back. Bobby Andrews hit a one-out single. Amador then came to the plate and hit a high fly ball down the left field line that soared over all three tiers of fences. It was Amador's second homer of the season, and tied the game at five.
Erbe did not come back out to pitch the third. He was pulled after going 2.0 innings, and allowing five earned runs on three hits. He walked four and struck out two. LHP Chad Thall came into the game for the Keys. He allowed a one-out single to Carlos Rivero. After retiring Jason Denham on a fly out to center, Thall lost the strike zone. He walked the next three batters he faced, knocking in a run, and giving Kinston a 6-5 lead.
But ONCE AGAIN the Keys would answer back. With runners on first and second and one man out, Ryan McCarthy hit a two run double, giving the Keys a 7-6 lead. Kinston starter Paolo Espino then tried to pick off McCarthy at second, only nobody was covering the bag. The throw went into center, allowing McCarthy to get to third. He then scored on a Justin Johnson squeeze bunt, extending the Keys lead to two.
The following inning, Wieters reached on a single, and Tripp launched another opposite field homerun, a two-run blast giving Frederick a 10-6 lead.
The Keys tacked on two more in the sixth inning to make the final score 12-6. Thall got the win, improving to 1-0. Espino was credited with the loss. He's now 0-2.