Rascals 8 Bolts 5
O’FALLON, MO – The River City Rascals scored seven runs in the second inning to erase an early ThunderBolts lead as the Rascals defeated the Bolts for the second straight day by an 8-5 final at T.R. Hughes Ballpark Saturday night.
The ThunderBolts (29-41) scored first for the second straight night, plating two runs in the first inning. Coco Johnson singled, Mike Torres walked and moved up on a double steal. Back-to-back groundouts scored both runners.
River City (38-32) got a big lift in the second inning when Windy City starter Danny Jimenez got wild. With two men on base, he walked three consecutive hitters, scoring two runs to tie the game. After he fell behind the next two batters, Curran Redal and Brian Hansen each came up with a two-run hit to make the score 6-2. Taylor Ard’s RBI double finished the scoring.
Neither team scored again until Marquis Riley reached base on an error for the Bolts in the seventh. He scored on a Torres double to make it 7-3.
The Rascals got that run back with three straight two-out hits in the bottom of the frame. Hector Crespo picked up an RBI hit.
The ThunderBolts made it interesting in the eighth inning. After Max White walked, Cody Keefer doubled him in. Jacob Tanis reached on an infield single to put runners at the corners with no outs, but Derek Cape came out of the bullpen and got Alex Chittenden to ground into a double play and the Bolts settled for two runs, making it 8-5.
Tommy Lawrence (2-0) allowed two runs in six innings for the win and Jimenez (3-8) took the loss, allowing seven runs and recording just four outs. Zeb Sneed earned his fifth save. The Windy City bullpen gave up just one run in 6.2 innings.
The ThunderBolts and Rascals will finish their three-game series on Sunday. Travis Tingle (5-5, 2.87) takes the hill for Windy City against River City’s Lucas Laster (2-3, 4.29). First pitch from T.R. Hughes Ballpark is scheduled for 4:05 and the broadcast can be heard on WXAV 88.3 FM and wxav.com.
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