Mike Yastrzemski hit for the cycle, and Michael Burgess added two home runs to headline an unrelenting offensive attack by the Frederick Keys in a 17-3 defeat for the Lynchburg Hillcats at Calvin Falwell Field Saturday night.
Lynchburg (42-43) allowed season highs with 17 runs, 19 hits and four homers. Wes Parsons (4-5) surrendered a career-high nine runs and allowed multiple home runs for the first time in his career while pitching the first four innings. branden kline (5-3) went five-plus innings, struck out five and held Lynchburg to three runs for the victory. Dennis Torres earned a save as a result of pitching the final four innings despite the lopsided score.
The Hillcats scored two of their three runs in the fourth inning after Kevin Ahrens hit a one-out double. He came home two batters later on an RBI double by Will Skinner. Skinner advanced to third on a balk, which allowed him to score on an infield single by Emerson Landoni, but the deficit was already 9-2 by that point.
Frederick (37-46) scored five times in the second inning to take the lead. Joel Hutter walked with the bases loaded to push Burgess across for the initial run. Jerome Pena immediately hit a two-run double, and Yastrzemski capped off the outburst with a two-run double.
Already with a 5-0 lead, Burgess drove in the next four runs himself with a solo home run to lead off the fifth and a three-run homer with two outs in the sixth. Burgess finished the game 4-for-4 with a double to go along with his two home runs. He moved into the Carolina League lead with 60 RBIs, while his 15 home runs rank second on the circuit.
Zane Chavez added to the power barrage with a solo home run to begin the sixth inning, and Yastrzemski hit a two-run homer over the left field fence later in the frame to increase the margin to 12-2. Yastrzemski lined an RBI double to right field as part of a two-run seventh and completed the cycle with a leadoff triple into the left-center field gap in the ninth.
Ironically, Yastrzemski’s cycle never would have happened had he run the bases properly in the first inning. The recently-promoted outfielder hit what appeared to be a triple to begin the game, but an appeal by the Hillcats defense determined that Yastrzemski missed second base on his way to third. As a result, Yastrzemski was called out and credited with a single instead. He ended the contest 5-for-6 with two doubles, a triple, a home run, five RBIs and three runs scored.
Down 14-2 in the sixth, the Hillcats’ final run of the evening came on a sacrifice fly by Justin Bloxom that drove in Jose Martinez. Martinez went 2-for-4, joining Ahrens and Skinner with two-hit performances. Ahrens’ double gave him a league-leading 26 for the season, while Skinner remained close behind with his 25th.
After splitting the first two contests, Lynchburg and Frederick will wrap up the three-game set Sunday at 6:05pm. Lucas Sims (6-6, 5.22) will start for the Hillcats against Sebastain Vader (0-0, -). Gates open at 5pm, and the game can be heard live on 97.9 The Planet beginning at 5:40pm.
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Chris Graham
