Carolina Mudcats complete sweep of Lynchburg Hillcats, 10-4

The Lynchburg Hillcats suffered their fourth straight loss tonight allowing 10 unanswered runs in the middle innings. The Carolina Mudcats held on to win 10-4 fending off one late rally for the Hillcats, who scored three runs in the seventh.

The Hillcats (7-7, 41-43) scored first on a wild pitch in the third inning. Emerson Landoni singled an moved to third on a Blake Brown double with no outs. A wild pitch allowed Landoni to score, but that’s all Lynchburg got due a pair of strikeouts and a caught stealing.

Hillcats starter Daniel Watts didn’t allow a hit through his first three innings, but then three hits in the fourth plated a run and tied the game. Watts saw more trouble in the fifth inning. Yhoxian Medina doubled home a run. Watts then hit Joe Sever before Yandy Diaz drove in two with a triple. Jeremy Lucas concluded the rally with an RBI double.

Watts (0-2) lasted just 4.1 innings and allowed six runs on seven hits while walking four and striking out two.

Ronan Pacheco relieved Watts and got out of the fifth inning with a fielders choice groundout and a caught stealing. He then surrendered four more runs in the sixth. Alex Monsalve highlighted the rally with a three-run double.

Lynchburg scored three runs in the seventh with the help of two hits and two errors on the Mudcats. Garcia drove in two with a single to left-center. As he advanced to second base on the the throw home, the relay to second base went into centerfield and Garcia ended up scoring on the play. Carolina’s centerfielder Logan Vick was still in left-center field so no one was there to back up the throw to second.

Michael Peoples (5-7) earned the win for Carolina. He gave up just one run on three hits while walking four and striking out five.

The Hillcats fell back to .500 but still share first place with the Potomac Nationals (6-6).

Next up for the Hillcats are the Frederick Keys who travel to Lynchburg to begin a three-game series at City Stadium. Right-hander Jarett Miller (3-6, 4.26) will start for the Hillcats against righty Dylan Bundy (0-0, -) for the Keys. First pitch is at 7:05pm and the gates will open at 5:30pm for the 4th of July holiday crowd. There will be fireworks presented by Kroger and Westover Dairy following the game.