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Daytime Fireworks: Warthogs' winning streak ends with 12-11 loss against Hillcats
Journal Photo by Walt Unks
Brandon Allen of the Warthogs digs for third on a ninth-inning triple.
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Published: May 15, 2008
Even after riding Brandon Allen's cycle to 11 runs, the Winston-Salem Warthogs came up short yesterday afternoon.
The Lynchburg Hillcats roughed up starter Matt Long and relievers Ricky Brooks and Matt Davis for 12 runs on 11 hits and seven walks to pull out a 12-11 victory at Ernie Shore Field.
As a result, the Warthogs squandered perhaps the best offensive performance of the season by any of their players while seeing a three-game winning streak end. Allen, a 22-year-old first baseman from Montgomery, Texas, homered in the second, singled in the fourth, doubled in the fifth, doubled again in the seventh and finally tripled to deep right-center in the ninth.
He said he didn't even realize he had a shot at hitting for the cycle until he returned to the dugout after scoring in the seventh. He said he couldn't remember ever hitting for a cycle before.
"My teammates were like ‘Why didn't you go for three?'" Allen said. "I said ‘I was good with the double.'"
The Warthogs and Hillcats will play the final game of their four-game series tonight at 7. Right-hander John Ely (1-4, 3.51) is scheduled to pitch for the Warthogs against left-hander Brian Holliday (1-1, 3.21).
Long, in trouble almost from the opening pitch, gave up five runs on four hits and two walks in the first, but found himself leading 6-5 after the Warthogs pushed across one in the second, three in the fourth and two in the fifth. But the Hillcats were far from done, scoring four in the sixth and three more in the seventh for a 12-6 lead.
A walk by Long -- his third of the day -- to the leadoff hitter in the sixth proved costly when Steve Lerud and Jared Keel followed with back-to-back RBI doubles. Long gave up eight earned runs on six hits through five innings, while falling to 2-3 on a day his ERA soared from 2.31 to 4.45.
"He battled back in innings two through five," Manager Tim Blackwell said. "But then he reverted back to what he did in the first inning in inning No. 6.
"And walks, of course, will kill you."
The Warthogs, having knocked starter Daniel Moskos out of the game in the fifth inning, kept the pressure on by scoring one in the seventh on back-to-back doubles by Allen and Lee Cruz, two in the eighth on Paulo Orlando's single that was followed by a homer from John Shelby III, and then two more in the ninth on Allen's leadoff triple and a home run by Anderson Gomes.
But Adam Simon, the Hillcats' fourth pitcher, induced a harmless fly to left from Francisco Hernandez for the game's final out. Kyle Pearson, who relieved Moskos, picked up the victory to improve to 1-0 and Simon notched his third save.
"It's too bad," Blackwell said of the blown lead. "Everybody fought back to get to that point. But then at that point we gave away too many runs."
Allen's offensive performance began with a bang when he hit the first pitch he saw from Moskos over the wall in right center for his sixth homer. But his most impressive at-bat came in the seventh, when he fell behind left-hander Chris Benoit 0-2, fouled off five two-strike pitches, worked the count to 2-2 and then pulled the 10th pitch down the right-field line for a double.
"Man that was something wasn't it?" Blackwell said. "And he took some good swings at the balls he fouled off.
"It would be nice to get locked in like that."
Allen's five hits in five at-bats raised his batting average from .276 to .305. He scored four runs and knocked in two.
"It's just a matter of being confident at the plate," Allen said. "You see the curveball, you see the changeup, and you get one you can handle."
■ Dan Collins can be reached at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
LYNCH. ab r h bi W-S ab r h bi
Friday ss 5 1 3 1 Orlndo cf 5 1 2 0
Gnzlz 2b 4 0 0 0 Shlby dh 5 2 1 2
Ngrych 3b 4 2 1 0 Colina 2b 5 2 2 1
Romak dh 4 3 2 1 Allen 1b 5 4 5 2
Lerud c 5 1 1 0 Cruz lf 4 1 2 2
Keel lf 3 3 2 4 Rthrfrd 3b 4 0 0 2
Prsley cf 3 2 1 2 Gomes rf 5 1 1 2
Mnslno 1b 5 0 1 3 Hrndz c 5 0 1 0
Prasch rf 4 0 0 0 Lang ss 4 0 0 0
Totals 37 12 11 11 Totals 42 11 14 11
Lynchburg 500 004 300 -- 12
Win.-Salem 010 320 122 -- 11
E--Negrych, Mansolino. DP--Winston-Salem 1. LOB--Lynchburg 5, Winston-Salem 6. 2B--Romak 2, Mansolino, Lerud, Keel, Presley, Friday 2, Cruz 2, Colina, Allen 2, Orlando. 3B--Allen. HR--Keel, Allen, Shelby, Gomes. SF--Retherford. SB--Keel, Shelby.
Lynchburg IP H R ER BB SO
Moskos 41/3 6 6 5 0 8
Pearson W,1-0 2/3 1 0 0 1 0
Benoit 3 5 3 3 0 1
Simon S,3 1 2 2 2 0 0
Winston-Salem IP H R ER BB SO
Long L,2-3 5 6 8 8 3 4
Brooks 1 2 1 1 0 0
Davis 3 3 3 3 4 2
WP--Pearson, Davis. T--2:51. A--2,398.
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