An ugly second inning helps Aberdeen to a 9-1 win over Lowell

If baseball was less than a nine inning, 27 out game, the Lowell Spinners would have been in pretty good shape on Tuesday night. However, as we know the game was meant to be played this way. Too bad for Lowell because the second inning is what cost them a chance at a win VS Aberdeen.

After the game, manager Iggy Suarez said giving the IronBirds extra outs did not help either. The Spinners did fall back into their habit of making physical mistakes at the wrong time. Whatever the case, it all added up to a 9-1 Spinners loss to Aberdeen.

The IronBirds got to starter Nick Duronin the first. After getting the first out of the game, three straight hits and a stolen base put Aberdeen on the board first. The RBI was driven in by RF Tristan Graham, 1-0 visitors.

The one inning of work was all that Duron (1-2) would give on this night. It took him 38 pitches to get through it. Suarez went to his bullpen to bring on Ryan Oduber to start the second.

When he began the frame, Oduber had an ERA of 3.21, but by the time he finished it that number ballooned to 6.60. It is what happens when you give up six hits, eight runs of which six were earned. Throw in a couple of Lowell errors and you have the making of an ugly outing.

Aberdeen would send eleven men to the plate. The six hits they delivered were all singles as they just put bat on ball and found holes to keep the line moving and pile on the runs.

Funny thing about this game it would end the night offensively for the IronBirds, as the combination of Jared Oliver and Mitchell Osnowitz came out of the Spinners pen and shut the door. Too bad it was one inning too late.

Meanwhile, Aberdeen got good pitching all night. Zac Lowther got the ball to start. He came into the game with an era of under 1.00 at 0.96 and when he finished his five shutout innings it dropped to 0.63, to pick up his first win of the season. His bullpen mates also did their jobs limiting the Spinners to an unearned run in the sixth with Garrett Benge driving him home. Other than that the duo of Nick Gruener and James Teague gave up only two hits while striking out five and issuing no walks.

Despite the tough night at the office, Manager Suarez was upbeat when talking about the game. He praised his bullpen for saving a game that could have gotten a lot worse. He also said he is reminding his players about being “mentally strong” to get through games like this one. He claims that why he loves the game to watch his team get challenged and become better for it.

It will be a quick turn around for both teams as they will play an 11 AM morning game on Wednesday.