AirHogs Shut Down Sox Again
John Brownell got his ninth win of the year as the Grand Prairie AirHogs held the Amarillo Sox to five hits for the second straight night, winning 5-2 in front of 1,195 fans at QuikTrip Park.
Brownell (9-3) was effectively wild, throwing 49 balls and 54 strikes, but he only allowed five hits and two runs through eight innings, walking four and striking out two.
Stephen Douglas extended his league-record hitting streak to 32 with a one-out single through the left side in the bottom of the first, and moved to second on the next pitch when David Espinosa lined a single. Douglas and Espinosa then executed a double steal, and both scored on Joey Gomes's two-out single to center.
Grand Prairie (47-27) added a run in the third on Cesar Nicolas's sacrifice fly, while the Sox (35-40) got their first run off in the top of the fourth when Matthew Tucker knocked in Lee Cruz with a single to right.
In the bottom of the inning, the AirHogs got that run back and one more against starter Matt Elliott (7-4), helped by a big two-out error by third baseman Van Pope that kept the inning alive for Jake Taylor. The Grand Prairie shortstop then made the Sox pay by hitting his fourth homer of the year, a two-run shot to left-center.
Brownell allowed a run in the eighth on a groundout by Adam De La Garza and then allowed a double and a walk, putting the potential tying run at home plate. But the righty got out of his only jam of the night by inducing a Tim Alberts flyout, and Jon Hunton worked around a leadoff error to record his league-leading 18th save of the year.
