AirHogs Take Series From Cats
In a rare American Association matchup where both starting pitchers were former Major League Baseball players, the Grand Prairie AirHogs' Jason Jennings out-pitched his counterpart Mike Bacsik of the Fort Worth Cats, as Grand Prairie beat Fort Worth 8-1 to take the three-game series two-out-of-three, the fifth series win in five tries for the AirHogs away from QuikTrip Park.
Jennings (4-1) became the first AirHogs starter to hit double-digit strikeouts, as he fanned 10 Cats, nine of them swinging, allowing only three hits and two walks in seven innings. He allowed two of his hits in the second, as the Cats (14-18) tied the game at 1-1 on a two-out single by Derek Kinzler - but Trent Lockwood was hosed at the plate by centerfielder Danny Figueroa to end the inning and keep the game tied.
The AirHogs' righty did not allow two baserunners in an inning again until the seventh, but he struck out Johnathon Moore and Kinzler after a double and a walk, and got Cory Morales to ground out to end his night.
Meanwhile, Grand Prairie (22-10) got an RBI single by Cesar Nicolas to take a first-inning lead for the second time in three games, and then took the lead for good on a two-out rally in the fifth. It started when David Thomas doubled to right-center off Bacsik (1-3), before Nicolas walked and Greg Porter just cleared the left-field wall with his fourth home run of the year to give the AirHogs a 4-1 lead.
Grand Prairie tacked on another run in the sixth on a Guillermo Martinez triple and Zane Chavez single, before putting the game away with three in the ninth, with Thomas driving in two with a triple and Porter singling in Thomas to give him four RBIs on the night.
The AirHogs begin a four-game homestand, starting Thursday, June 16, at 7:05 p.m. against the El Paso Diablos, with Thirsty Thursday, featuring $2 16-oz. beers and Coors Light Jerseys off our Backs Night, with a chance to win the specialty jerseys that the AirHogs will wear that night.
