Brownell, Bats Keep AirHogs Rolling
On a day where almost everything clicked, the Grand Prairie AirHogs extended their winning streak to nine straight, as they beat the Kansas City T-Bones 10-4 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark on Thursday afternoon to complete a four-game sweep.
The AirHogs (15-5) got hitting all throughout the order, good pitching and solid defense as they cruised to the victory over the T-Bones (7-13) in a game with an 11 a.m. start - coming after Wednesday's rain-delayed game that ended at 11:48 p.m.
After getting a first-inning run on a two-out single by the red-hot John Alonso, Grand Prairie broke things wide open in the second. With one out, a walk and two singles loaded the bases, and David Espinosa drew another walk from Ryne Reynoso (2-2) to force in a run.
David Thomas's two-run double down the line came next, and Greg Porter launched his second homer of the year, a three-run opposite field shot, to make it 7-0. Alonso and Tyler Henley followed with doubles to make it 8-0 and ensure Reynoso's day ended before noon.
Grand Prairie tacked on two more runs in the seventh off a tiring Steven Stewart, who threw 4 2/3 innings of relief, but by then the game was well out of hand.
Meanwhile, John Brownell (4-0) worked hard to get through the first three innings, throwing 57 pitches and allowing two walks, a hit batter and two runs, on a long home run by Ray Sadler. But in the next four innings, Brownell only threw 51 total pitches and faced the minimum 12 batters, retiring the final eight before tiring and allowing a run in the eighth inning.
Brownell was lifted after 119 pitches for Jon Fulton with one out in the eighth, and the righty came in and got the final five outs with four strikeouts and a run allowed to complete the victory.
The AirHogs return home to open up a six-game home stand, starting Friday, June 3, against the St. Paul Saints at 7:05 p.m
