Late Runs Doom AirHogs in 11-inning Loss
Returning to the QuikTrip Park mound for the first time since the Grand Prairie AirHogs inaugural season in 2008, righty Scot Drucker displayed the form that got him signed by the Detroit Tigers' organization that year. But for the second night in a row, the Gary SouthShore RailCats got the bigger hits late, as they scored three runs in the 11th inning to nip the 'Hogs in front of a crowd of 1,776 on Friday.
The AirHogs (0-2) scored first on a sacrifice fly by Cesar Nicolas in the third, and for a bit it looked like Drucker would make the lone run stand up.
The Miami native retired the first four men he faced before Louis Ott singled with one out in the second. But the AirHogs righty promptly induced a double play from Kyle Haines to end the inning. He allowed a two-out single in the third but then picked of Chris Carrara to end that frame, and got another inning-ending double play in the fourth before hurling a perfect fifth.
In the sixth, Drucker finally faced more than three batters, easily working around a one-out double by Mike Rohde. But he could not hold the slim lead in the seventh, as Mike Massaro and Brad Boyer singled to start the inning, and Ott knocked them both in after a wild pitch to give the RailCats (2-0) a 2-1 advantage.
Grand Prairie tied the game on a balk by James Baker in the bottom of the seventh, but stranded a runner at third. Neither team had a significant threat in the next three innings, but Bo Schultz (0-1) allowed a bunt single to Jeff Beachum to start the 11th. Chris Carrara then tried to sacrifice, but Schultz elected to throw the bunt to second and get the lead runner. The righty's throw was late, and after a successful sacrifice by Adam Klein, Massaro's first-pitch single plated two.
After Massaro stole second, Cristian Guerrero then knocked him in with a base-hit to give the RailCats their winning margin and making a winner out of Gary's sixth pitcher of the night, lefty Zeb Engle (1-0), who got the last two outs in the 10th.
Closer David Nathanson then repeated his performance from Thursday, working a perfect bottom of the 11th to pick up his second save in as many nights.
