The El Paso Chihuahuas continued their home stand against the New Orleans Zephyrs where they won their fourth game in a row. The Chihuahuas took care of business in what could be considered one of the most interesting offensive games of the season as they won 7-6.
In just three innings of play the Chihuahuas had already complied 8 hits and three runs. The home crowd of 6,883 at Southwest University Park appreciated the offensive display at full throttle.
Though the Chihuahuas were able to win this game even though it did not always appear as though they would. They were in a bind early on as they trailed the Zephyrs 4-1 at the top of the third inning.
A three-run homer by outfielder Hunter Renfroe helped the Chihuahuas get back in the game. Renfroe’s homerun helped score three and tie the game at four.
“That’s just who we are, that’s been the beauty of our team—a lot of games we’ve been behind and we’ve always chipped away or we had that huge inning to put ourselves back into the game,” Chihuahuas Manager Rod Barajas said.
An error in the top of the fourth put the score back in the Zephyrs way. A routine grounder troubled the third baseman Diego Goris with the throw to first. The Zephyrs were able to score off the blunder to take the 5-4 lead.
Alex Dickerson responded for the Chihuahuas in the bottom of the fourth. Dickerson hit a line drive with plenty of power under it to leave the park and help Carlos Asuaje reach home base and give the Chihuahuas the 6-5 lead.
This was one of the few games where the Chihuahuas had more than one home run in the game. Much to the dislike of the Zephyrs pitching crew, the Chihuahuas made the most out of their at bats in front of their home crowd.
“Home runs are mistakes you try to hit line drives and if you just get underneath the ball a little bit those are the home runs,” Barajas said. “I think our approach have been great—staying in the middle of the field, hitting the ball hard. I think this is a hitters park but those would have been home runs anywhere.”
Diego Goris made up for his error in the fourth with a rocket home run in the fifth. Goris added an insurance run to the Chihuahuas’ lead and helped them to a more comfortable lead at 7-5.
“It’s been a good run here—yesterday’s walk off, today we win by one,” Dickerson said. “We’ve been able to pitch well hit well and it was a good win.”
Chihuahuas cruised to victory late in the game. Dickerson was a triple away from getting a cycle, but on his last at bat was hit by a pitch.
The El Paso Chihuahuas ended the night with 12 hits and one error. More importantly, they improved to 20-17. The Chihuahuas will face off against New Orleans Tuesday at 11:05 am in Southwest University Park.
Juan Carlos Navarrete may be reached at the [email protected]
