Thomas Pannone and Jared Robinson combined to hold Myrtle Beach to two runs on six hits, and the Hillcats offense supplied enough support to secure a 5-2 victory at TicketReturn.com Field Friday night.
After not playing Myrtle Beach in more than two months, the Hillcats wasted no time becoming reacquainted by taking a 3-0 advantage in the first three innings.
Francisco Mejia walked in the opening stanza, advanced to third on an Anthony Santander double, and scored on an RBI groundout byBobby Bradley. It represented Bradley’s league-leading 95th RBI of the season. The Hillcats added two more in the third inning whenTyler Krieger tripled with two outs to drive in Mejia and Santander.
Thomas Pannone started the game for Lynchburg and cruised through his first four innings for the most part. The left-hander only allowed one hit during that time, and the only threat came in the second when the Pelicans put two runners on with nobody out. Pannone escaped that with a double play and strikeout to keep Myrtle Beach off the board.
Pannone encountered some trouble in the fifth when five straight batters reached with one out, including an infield single with the bases loaded that gave Myrtle Beach its first run of the game. With the bases still loaded, Pannone hit Donnie Dewees to bring in another run. That cut the margin to 3-2 and knocked Pannone from the contest.
Jared Robinson entered with only one out and the bases loaded, including the potential tying run at third and possible tying run at second.Robinson successfully caused David Bote to pop out and Yasiel Balaguert to line out to end the threat with the Hillcats still ahead.
Robinson (2-4) retired the first eight batters he faced and went the final 4 2/3 innings to earn the win. He only surrendered three hits and did not record any walks or strikeouts. Robinson has tossed a total of 8 2/3 scoreless innings in two appearances against the Pelicans this season.
Lynchburg tallied two insurance runs in the seventh. Santander singled and stole second base before Krieger walked to put two men aboard. Dorssys Paulino and Taylor Murphy each picked up a two-out RBI on back-to-back singles to bring in Santander and Krieger,sending Lynchburg to a 5-2 win.
Lynchburg’s streak of hitting a home run in seven consecutive games came to a close…The Hillcats improved to 32-23 since the All-Star Break, tying Potomac for the second-half Northern Division lead with 15 games remaining in the regular season…The Hillcats raised their road record to a league-best 40-24 (.625).
Lynchburg plays Myrtle Beach Saturday at 7:05 p.m. Matt Esparza (1-2, 1.88) will start for the Hillcats. 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 6:45 p.m.
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