Wingnuts Force Game 4 with 5-3 Win
After scoring the tying and winning runs off the Wichita Wingnuts bullpen in the first two games of their best-of-five American Association Division Series, the Grand Prairie AirHogs found themselves in a familiar situation on Saturday night with a chance to advance to the league's Championship Series. But down by a run heading to the eighth, the AirHogs did not get a baserunner against a pair of Wingnuts relievers, as Wichita forced Game 4 of the series with a 5-3 win at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
It took an hour and a half due to a rain -delayed start, but for the third straight game, the road team scored first, as the AirHogs got three first-inning singles from Stephen Douglas, David Espinosa and Cesar Nicolas to take a 1-0 lead.
But that lead was short-lived, as Jimmy Mojica, who led off Games 1 and 2 with base hits, ripped a double to start the bottom of the first, and moved to third on a groundout by Josh Horn. Juan Richardson popped out, but Carlos Rivera drilled a two-run home run to right off AirHogs starter Josh Rainwater (0-1), his second in as many nights, to give the Wingnuts a 2-1 edge.
The AirHogs tied it back up against Ryan Hinson (1-0) with two hits in the third, with Greg Porter knocking in the run of the Wingnuts lefty.
It remained tied until the bottom of the fifth, when Mike Conroy led off by reaching on an error, and a base hit by Jimmy Mojica and a grounder by Josh Horn made it 3-2. Rivera added a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2, while the AirHogs got one back on David Espinosa's two-out double in the top of the seventh.
Matt Nevarez set the AirHogs down in order in the eighth, while the Wingnuts picked up an insurance run against Bo Schultz, before the outfield lights went out and the rain came again, forcing another delay of nearly an hour, before Matt Sartor came in to end the bottom of the eighth with a strikeout of Mike Conroy.
Closer Josh Dew, who blew the save and took the loss in Game 1, and threw the game-ending wild pitch in Game 2, was perfect on this night, getting Chris McMurray, Danny Figueroa and Stephen Douglas in order to keep the Wingnuts' season alive.
