AirHogs Lose Season Opener in Close Game
By Josh Hirsch – Grand Prairie AirHogs
The new era in Grand Prairie AirHogs baseball got off to a very entertaining start Thursday night, although the team did not get the result it wanted, as the Gary SouthShore RailCats put up two eighth-inning runs to tip the see-saw game their way for good, winning 8-7 in front of 2,612 fans at QuikTrip Park.
RailCats shortstop Kyle Haines hit a two-run single to left with two outs off Grand Prairie reliever Dustin Cameron (0-1) to provide the final margin and David Nathanson pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning with two strikeouts to get his first professional save in the fifth-year pro's third-ever relief outing.
Almost three and a half hours earlier, the season kicked off with AirHogs starter Greg Smith working out of trouble in the first inning before allowing three runs (two of them earned) in the second to give Gary (1-0) the lead. Scott Clement's fielder's choice scored a run in the second, and Greg Porter's two-out, two-run double in the third tied the game after a great at-bat by Cesar Nicolas to earn a walk allowed Porter to come to the plate.
The RailCats re-took the lead in the fifth on a groundout by Louis Ott, but starter Scott Shaw did not even come out in the bottom half to try to earn the win. Instead, lefty Zeb Engle came on and worked a perfect frame. But after Smith finished his six innings of work with a scoreless frame, Engle was lifted after a two-out single by Clement in favor of Will Krout. Guillermo Martinez then lashed a double into the left-field corner, and Clement came all the way around to re-tie the game.
Once again, the tie was short-lived, as Brad Boyer homered off Jon Fulton to lead off the seventh and give Gary the lead once more. After a single and a groundout, Fulton walked two before Bo Schultz came in and allowed an RBI groundout to push the margin back to two.
The AirHogs (0-1) finally took the lead in the seventh on a David Espinosa fielder's choice and error and a RBI double by John Alonso, but Espinosa was thrown out at home on the play.
After Cameron walked Adam Klein to start the eighth, Mike Massaro hit a liner to Porter at third. It appeared that one umpire ruled that Porter caught the ball in the air, while another ruled that he had trapped it. So while Porter threw to first to try to double off Klein, Klein himself ran all the way to third while the AirHogs protested. Eventually the crew came together and ruled the play a catch in the air, but allowed Klein to return to first. After Boyer singled and Crisitian Guerrero was hit by a pitch, Cameron struck out Ott but Haines notched his base hit to give the RailCats the lead for good.
Grand Prairie had a good chance in the bottom of the eighth against Chris Chavez (1-0) after Danny Figueroa singled with one out and then stole second and third, but Kevin Thompson was robbed of a hit on a diving play by Boyer at second base and David Thomas grounded out to first to end the threat.
