Lynchburg Hillcats roll in 8-2 win

Sean Brady continued the momentum he had after winning Carolina League Pitcher of the Week in an 8-2 Lynchburg win Friday at Calvin Falwell Field. The lefty threw 6 1/3 innings and only allowed two runs while striking out five batters. The ‘Cats scored a run in four of the first five frames in the series opener, and every player had at least one hit in the contest.

The Hillcats starter, Sean Brady was not affected by the weather delay as he retired the first nine batters in order. It only took him 20 batters to work through the first six innings as he had a three-hit shutout going. He was pulled in the seventh inning after allowing a single and a walk. He has earned the win in six of his last eight starts and improved his record to 8-3. Jordan Milbrath came in out of the bullpen and allowed two hits and a walk, which allowed both inherited runners to score. He proceeded to strike out the next two batters to get out of the inning. Justin Garcia and Trevor Frank combined to pitch two perfect frames to secure the victory and lower their ERAs to 2.25 and 2.70 respectively.

Lynchburg started the game with its foot on the throttle, scoring three runs in the first. They now outscore opponents 74-50 in the first inning. The first five runners of the game reached base, which included a Greg Allen double and Tyler Krieger RBI single. Yu-Cheng Chang and Luigi Rodriguez also recorded RBI singles in the inning to put the ‘Cats up 3-0. The Hillcats tacked on another run in the second after a Krieger walk and a RBI double from Anthony Santander.

Mark Mathias led the fourth off with a double and advanced to third on a single by Paul Hendrix. Allen used a sacrifice bunt, which he reached base on to bring in Mathias. Santander singled later in the inning to drive in his second run of the game. The ‘Cats added a run apiece in the fifth and seventh innings to add some cushion.

Francisco Mejia recorded a single in his fourth at-bat of the game to improve his hitting streak to 33 games overall…Greg Allen extended his team-best on-base streak to 26 straight games…The Hillcats are 37-4 when holding opponents to three runs or less…Anthony Santander has hit safely in 16 of his last 17 contests after going 2-4 in the games.

The two first-half champions will meet at City Stadium Saturday at 6:30 p.m. with postgame fireworks. Anderson Polanco (3-2, 3.40) will take the mound for the Hillcats against Travis Lakins (5-3, 5.58). Fans can listen to the action on 93.3 FM and 1320 AM as well as www.lynchburg-hillcats.com, beginning with the Hillcats On-Deck Show at 6:15 p.m.