Espinosa Slams AirHogs in 11th
The Grand Prairie AirHogs lost another close game, as Alberto Espinosa's two-out grand slam in the 11th inning gave the El Paso Diablos an 11-7 win at Cohen Stadium on Wednesday night.
Espinosa's blast came on a line drive to left that just got over the wall and just stayed fair with two outs against Kyle Gunderson (0-1). After Gunderson got the first out of the frame on a flyout to left, Albenis Machado hit a long fly to right-center that the wind blew away from Tyler Henley for a triple. The AirHogs (41-21) then walked the next two hitters intentionally, before Johan Garcia bounced into a fielder's choice to first, with John Alonso throwing the potential winning run at home.
But on a 1-1 count, Espinosa lined the ball out to set off a Diablos celebration at home plate.
For the second day in a row, the AirHogs took a first-inning lead, getting four in the first off Reymond Cruz, with RBI triples by David Espinosa and David Thomas and RBI singles by Cesar Nicolas and Greg Porter.
But David Nathanson could not hold the Diablos (19-44), giving up two runs in the first on a homer by Javier Brito, one in the second and two in the third to give El Paso the lead. The Diablos scored two more in the fourth to go up 7-4, but Bo Schultz, Jon Fulton and Jason Moody held El Paso off the board for the next six innings.
Meanwhile, Cruz kept the AirHogs from scoring through the next five innings, and Jon Plefka shut Grand Prairie out in the seventh. Finally, with two outs in the eighth, Plefka loaded the bases on two singles and a walk, and El Paso summoned closer Ray Silva (3-1) to try to stop the rally. Tyler Henley greeted Silva with a two-run single, and Danny Figueroa's single to right tied the game at 7-7.
But Grand Prairie could not push across the winning run, failing to score on a first-and-third, one-out situation in the ninth against Silva, before the righty retired the last eight hitters he faced to set up the Diablos' winning rally.
