MILB: Lowell and Aberdeen split a DH

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MILB: Lowell and Aberdeen split a DH

It was a long night of baseball at LeLcheur Park because of a rainout on Thursday night. The Lowell Spinners and the Aberdeen IronBirds were forced to play two, and when the evening of games was finished both teams earned a victory. Lowell (6-8) won game one in walk-off style 4-3, and Aberdeen (7-7), took the nightcap 9-1.

Spinners Manager Cory Wimberly was happy with the split despite his team being able to muster only five hits combined in the twin-bill. When asked about the lack of offense in both games, Wimberly attributed it to two straight days of not seeing live pitching.

In game one, Yorvin Pantoja got the start for Lowell and quickly fell behind 1-0 before the fans were settled in their seats. It started with a walk to the IronBirds leadoff hitter Adam Hall. Pantoja promptly wild pitched him to second base and he moved to third on a groundout. He would score the game’s first run with two outs on an infield single down the third base line by Doran Turchin.

Luis Perez got the ball for the IronBirds and sailed through the Spinners lineup first time through giving up only a walk to the second batter he faced Cole Brannen.

In the third, he made a mistake to leadoff hither Jarren Duran and paid for it on a 2-1 fastball that Duran hit over the wall in right after two were out. The HR was his first of the season, and it tied the game at 1-1 after three innings. The home run extended Duran’s hitting streak to seven games

Pantoja went the first four for the Spinners (4 IP, 7H, 1ER), then he gave way to Durbin Feltman who pitched a scoreless fifth for Lowell. In the sixth, the Spinners went back to their bullpen and brought in Andrew Politi.

Politi gave up back to back singles to begin the sixth. Hall then sacrificed both runners up. Robert Neustrom singled to right field scoring one, but the second run was thrown out at the plate by right fielder Dylan Hardy. 2-1 Aberdeen after six.

In the seventh, the IronBirds would add what at the time looked like a big insurance run. With Politi still on the mound, he would give up back to back doubles to Milton Ramos and Alexis Torres, with Ramos scoring to make it a 3-1 Aberdeen lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Spinners went to work facing Brandon Bonilla who took over for Perez (5 innings, 1 hit, 1 earned run). Andre Colon got the rally started with a single to right-center. That was followed by a walk to Grant Williams and after that, Korby Batesole struck out swinging. Hardy singled to center field to load the bases. Then with Duran hitting, Bonilla uncorked consecutive wild pitches and the first one scored Colon. The second one plated Williams and we were now tied at 3-3.

Duran, with a runner at third and one down, hit a high chopper to second baseman Ramos who fielded the ball. But he had no chance to make a play on Hardy who scored the winning run from third. The Spinners scored three in the seventh to walk-off with a 4-3 victory.

Victor Garcia (2-1) who faced only one batter and retired him, gets the win for Lowell. Bonilla (1-1) took the loss for Aberdeen.

In the second game, the Spinners managed only one hit. A one-out single by the number nine hitter in the order Nick Hamilton. He would steal second base (second steal of the year), and advanced to third on a fielding error by Hall during. Duran at-bat. He scored on the back end of a double steal to tie the game at 1-1 through three innings of play.

From there it was all down hill for the Spinners as the IronBirds would score eight unanswered runs. One in the sixth, and seven in the final frame to put the game away 9-1 and gain a split of the doubleheader.

Jose Diaz (2-0) got the win in relief for Aberdeen, Alberto Franco took the loss (1-1) for Lowell. The two teams will look to see who will take the rubber game Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 5:30 pm.