AirHogs Split Doubleheader, Clinch Playoff Berth
When Sunday dawned, a possibility existed that the Grand Prairie AirHogs could have clinched a playoff spot before finishing the first game of their twinbill against the El Paso Diablos. But the Shreveport-Bossier Captains took the first game of their doubleheader against the Gary SouthShore Railcats, before losing the nightcap 5-2 to reduce the AirHogs' magic number to one. That meant Grand Prairie needed one win against El Paso to clinch the South Division championship.
The AirHogs waited until the last pitch of the night to make it happen, as they lost the opening game 4-3 before coming back to win the nightcap 6-5 on Chris McMurray's game-ending bunt single in the bottom of the seventh inning in front of 2,678 fans at QuikTrip Park.
McMurray's heroics were needed because of Javier Brito's three-run homer to tie the game at 5-5 with one out in the top of the sixth. Jason Jennings got the final two outs of that frame, and Jon Hunton (7-2) struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh to set things up for the winner.
Cesar Nicolas struck out to start the bottom of the seventh, but John Alonso walked and pinch-runner Jake Taylor went to third on Joey Gomes' single up the middle. After David Thomas was intentionally walked, McMurray took a strike, and then laid down a bunt just to the first base side of the
Jake Taylor pops up after scoring the winning run. Photo credit: Brad Barton mound. Pitcher Kyle Cremers (2-1) tried to glove the ball home with one motion, but he whiffed on the roller and Taylor slid in with the division-clinching run.
Grand Prairie (55-31) fell behind 1-0 in the first inning of the game, before getting two unearned runs in the bottom of the first to go up 2-1. El Paso (31-55) got even in the second on a Kory Drew single, before the Airhogs got three runs off starter Scott Hodsdon in the fourth to take the lead.
But El Paso rallied back before the AirHogs finally came through to win the first division crown in franchise history - having made the playoffs as a wild card in 2008.
Espinosa's leadoff single in the sixth chased Allen, and after one-out single by John Alonso, Cremers got a fielder's choice before departing himself. Thomas's two-run triple was the only batter for lefty Adam Rowe, but Reyes Dorado, the fourth Diablos pitcher of the inning, kept him at third by deflecting German Duran's grounder ticketed to center over to second baseman Albenis Machado to end the inning.
Dorado then worked around a one-out walk in the seventh, getting Espinosa to ground out with the potential tying run at third to get his third save of the season.
