On Jackie Robinson day and in front of 6,410 in the crowd the El Paso Chihuahuas beat the Reno Aces 4-2 to break a two-game losing streak. The Chihuahuas struggled offensively initially, but once they got on the board, some solid pitching helped close out the game.
“Some offensive ineptness early,” said Chihuahua manager Pat Murphy. “But the bullpen…(was) the difference in the ballgame.”
The ineptness Murphy refers to is a stretch in which El Paso batters came up to the plate with a man on third base and came up empty. Five different Chihuahuas had a teammate 90 feet from home and all five failed to advance the runner and put a run on the scoreboard.
Still, in the end, the Chihuahuas managed to make the most of their opportunities scoring their four runs of the ballgame on just seven hits. Third baseman Brett Wallace continued his strong performance at the plate making his opportunities at the plate tonight count. He went 1-2 on the night, with two walks and a solo home run in the third inning.
Along with Wallace, catcher Austin Hedges has started off the 2015 season on a roll offensively. With a .438 batting average, Hedges accounted for almost half of the Chihuahuas hits tonight going 3-4 at the plate.
“Hedges is on fire,” Murphy said. “Hedges and Wallace, I mean, they were the difference in the game.”
Aaron Northcraft started his second game of the season and earned his first win after pitching five full innings. After pitching just 1.2 innings in his first game, the Chihuahuas’ second of the season, any kind of performance would be an improvement for the 24-year-old right-hander. He gave up just two earned runs compared to the seven he gave up a week ago and struck out four. His ERA improved from a stratospheric 37.80 to a 12.15.
Murphy is still looking for Northcraft to get better as he continues to pitch though.
“He’s not where he needs to be, for sure,” Murphy said. “You can’t walk four in five innings.”
Once Northcraft was done for the night, one of the Chihuahuas’ strengths so far this season delivered once again. The four relievers Murphy called upon tonight pitched an inning each allowing just one hit and 8 strike-outs.
The lone Reno hit came against right-hander Jerry Sullivan in the sixth and after that no Ace reached first. Nick Vincent, Cory Mazzoni and Marcos Mateo retired nine straight batters to give the Chihuahuas their third win of the season.
“They’ve (the bullpen) done a great job,” Wallace said. “We have a lot of guys down there that have a lot of big-league time and have big-league stuff. They come in and attack and go right at the hitters.”
Hedges’ insurance solo home run in the eighth was unnecessary thanks to the bullpen’s dominance, but it as impressive nonetheless. He hit the ball straight into centerfield and over 400 feet.
With the bullpen firing on all cylinders and the starters providing some quality starts, the offense is itching to get some consistency and appears ready to get on a roll.
“I think you can look at our roster, not just our lineup everyday but our guys on the bench too, a lot of guys that can hit and that have proven they can hit throughout the year,” Wallace said. “It’s just about everybody kind of getting in a rhythm.”
The Chihuahuas close out their first home stand of the year tomorrow in the last game of the series against Reno. They will look to split a series for the second time this year and avoid losing their first in this 2015. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35.
Luis Gonzalez may be reached at [email protected].
