Captains Snap Another AirHogs Streak
On Tuesday night, the Shreveport-Bossier Captains snapped the Grand Prairie AirHogs' seven-game winning streak with a 3-0 win. On Wednesday, the Captains halted another streak, beating the AirHogs 4-3 at Fair Grounds field to send the AirHogs to their first road series loss of the year in six tries.
For the second time in the three-game series, the AirHogs (27-12) scored in the first inning, as Cesar Nicolas drove in David Espinosa with a single to start the scoring. But Nicolas was thrown out at the plate on John Alonso's two-out single to end the inning, keeping the lead at 1-0.
It got to 2-0 in the second on a two-out double by Danny Figueroa, but Richard Salazar (3-2) did not allow another run in his seven innings of work, retiring nine straight at one point. The veteran lefty finished with eight hits and one walk allowed, with two runs and six strikeouts.
David Nathanson (0-2) held the Captains (21-17) off the scoreboard through the first four innings despite allowing four hits - thanks in part to two double plays. But Mike Provencher put Shreveport-Bossier on the board with a fifth-inning two-out single after an error opened the door, and Nathanson was pulled after allowing back-to-back hits to start the sixth.
Jon Fulton came in and allowed a 1-2 double to Palmer Karr off the left-field wall to tie the game, before another defensive miscue gave Shreveport-Bossier the lead for good. Uriak Marquez lined out to second on a nice play by David Espinosa for the first out, but Espinosa then threw wildly to second trying to double off Karr, allowing Andres Rodriguez to score the third Captains run. A two-out RBI single by Brian Peterson then gave the Captains an insurance run - one it turned out they needed.
Grand Prairie got their third run in the eighth after Nicolas doubled to start the frame and scored on a sacrifice fly by Alonso, but after two baserunners with two outs in the ninth, David Thomas grounded to first on the first pitch from closer Dan Griffin to give the Captains reliever his 12th save of the year and send the AirHogs to their first road series loss of the season.
