Stadium: Deseret Field (Capacity: 17,423)
September 11: Hops 5, Chukars 2
September 12: Hops 2, Chukars 1
September 13: Chukars 5, Hops 3
Salt Lake City, UT (AP) - The Flagstaff Hops went into the newly renovated Deseret Field and took two of three from Salt Lake to increase their lead in the ML West to three games over the Chukars.
The Hops opened up a huge three-game series in Salt Lake City with a big 5-2 victory over the second-place Chukars. Isaac Nettles went 3 for 5 with a double and two RBIs to help pace a 13 hit attack in the victory.
Salt Lake would grab a 1-0 lead in the first inning off of Ramon Garcia on a Robby Payne RBI double. It would remain that way into the top of the sixth inning. Isaac Nettles ripped an RBI double that scored Forrest Owen to tie the ballgame. Josh Ortega then singled home Robbie Westbrook and the Hops went up 2-1.
Emmitt Hampton came through with a big two-out RBI single in the eighth to increase the Hops lead to 3-1. That run would be big as J.P. Grant homered to open the bottom of the eighth for Salt Lake. It was Grant’s 22nd on the season and cut the lead to 3-2.
Flagstaff would then add two big insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Robbie Westbrook lined a two-out RBI single back up the middle to score Roberto Geronimo, and Isaac Nettles followed that up with an RBI single of his own to put the Hops up by three.
Closer Vic Miller came on and gave up a single and got a pop out, but then had to leave the game with an undisclosed injury. Samuel Espinoza came on and got the final two outs to secure his first career save.
Ramon Garcia (10-7) picked up the win, pitching five solid innings, allowing one run on four hits, while striking out four and walking two. Russell Fluty, Pedro Macias, Vic Miller and Samuel Espinoza finished off the game with four solid innings out of the pen.
Roberto Geronimo went 2 for 4 with a run scored and had two stolen bases for the Hops as he is looking to get out of his slump.
After the game, closer Vic Miller was evaluated and the news was good. He just had a bicep strain and should only miss a few days. The club recalled closer Fernando Benitez from Triple-A Albuquerque and placed reliever Sam Varela on optional assignment waivers.
On Tuesday evening, the Hops pulled out a tight pitcher’s duel with a 2-1 victory to secure a series win and move four games ahead of the Chukars in the ML West. Shoe-Lace O’Tying (13-8) tossed a strong seven innings, allowing one run on four hits, while striking out a season high 12.
The Chukars would grab the lead in the second inning on a Darell McCloud RBI double, scoring Rafael Geronimo.
The Hops responded immediately as David Benitez hit a solo home run to left to tie the game at 1-1. It would remain that way until the sixth when Robbie Westbrook came through with a solo home run to put the Hops in front 2-1. It was his 34th on the season.
Pedro Macias worked a 1-2-3 eighth and rookie Fernando Benitez, making his debut, was able to lock down the Chukars in the ninth to pick up his first career save.
Thor Odinson (13-10) picked up the loss, tossing five plus innings and allowing two runs on five hits, while striking out five.
Art Mason, who lead the ML with a .325 batting average, went 1 for 4 and stole his 30th base on the year.
In the finale, the Chukars hit three home runs and took advantage of a not so sharp outing from Ryan Pressley to avoid a sweep with a 5-3 victory.
Salt Lake would grab a 3-0 lead in the second on a John Scott three-run home run to right, it was his second on the year.
The Hops would get one back in the top of the third on an Isaac Nettles RBI single that scored Phillip Choi. But the Chukars answered right back as J.P. Grant launched a long home run to right to make it 4-1 in the bottom half of the third.
Flagstaff would chip away at that lead with single runs in the sixth and seventh. After a Robbie Westbrook leadoff double in the sixth, a pair of groundouts would send Westbrook home to cut the lead to just two. Donnie Roland then hit a solo homer to open the seventh to cut it to 4-3. But that would be as close as the Hops would get.
Sergio Pinto lead off the eighth with a solo home run off of Oliver Benedict to give the Chukars a bit of a cushion heading into the ninth. Closer Emmitt Franco would send the Hops down in order to pick up his 39th save and help the Chukars avoid what would have been a disastrous sweep.
Ryan Pressley (14-10) took the loss and didn’t have his best stuff. He pitched six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, while striking out eight and walking three. Vergil Wray (6-6) picked up the win for the Chukars. He went six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out two.
Flagstaff (81-66) will close out their road trip with three at St George (73-73) before returning home to face Salt Lake.
Around the League: Rio Rancho sent El Paso to their fifth straight loss, 13-8 on Monday evening. The loss dropped the Blue Rocks into a first place tie with Santa Fe. The Owlz are now just one game back of Salt Lake for the second ML Wild Card.
Gilbert opened up a huge series with Chandler with a 5-3 victory on Tuesday evening. David Lee (13-6) picked up the win, pitching 6 1/3 inning and allowing three runs on five hits, striking out six and walking five, as the Barnstormers moved back to within four games of first-place Chandler.
San Diego’s Matt Campbell (14-7) tossed a complete game five hitter, striking out eight, in a 1-0 victory for the Seals over Colorado Springs.
Henderson defeated Las Vegas 8-2 in the opener of a huge series for the top two teams in the DL West. The Silver Knights moved 1 1/2 games up on the Nuggets with the win. Albert Zambrano went 3 for 5 with a home run and five RBIs in the victory. On Wednesday evening, the Silver Knights scored five times in the bottom of the eighth to pull out a 7-2 victory. Buddy Jordan keyed the win with a grand slam in the eighth, his 23rd on the season. The Silver Knights swept the two game series and now lead Las Vegas by 2 1/2 games in the DL West.
Sam Robinson went 2 for 5 with two home runs and seven RBIs for St George in a 14-2 victory over San Antonio that keeps the Archers within shouting distance of a ML Wild Card birth.
Rio Rancho won its fourth straight and 11 of 12 as they defeated El Paso 8-6 to complete the sweep. The Blue Rocks have dropped seven straight and have fallen out of first place in the ML Central. A first inning grand slam from Avery Phillips keyed Santa Fe to a 6-4 victory over last place Albuquerque and moved the Silver Bullets into first place.
<img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53031554524_013bf1f679_o.jpg" width="720" height="405" alt="Series47_23"/>
David Benitez hit a huge home run in Tuesday’s victory over the Chukars.
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