In front of a sell out crowd, the El Paso Chihuahuas were down to start the first 3 innings in their last game of the four-game series against the Memphis Redbirds, but the home team finished strong with at least one run scored in four consecutive innings for a 7-2 win.
Although both teams had good close hit counts, Memphis with 12 and Chihuahuas with 13, the game changer was the pitching on the Chihuahuas end.
“We played some good defense,” starting pitcher Daniel McCutchen said. “I don’t think they particularly hit me hard; they were just finding holes, but then when I needed to make a pitch, I made a pitch.”
Now McCutchen, who took the win, is 9-6 overall, and the Chihuahuas improved to 57-41. Through 75 pitches he threw 53 strikes.
“I try to fill up the zone,” said McCuthen. “I’m a strike thrower, guys are going to hit me, I throw strikes, luckily they hit a few out to people and we came out with the win.”
Winning tonight’s game gave the Chihuahuas a 4-4 home stand during the past eight games, as well as ensured a winning record against the American South Division for the season.
“Nashville came in here hot, they crushed us, but we bounced back,” McCutchen said.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, right fielder Hunter Renfroe hit a homerun to tie the game at 2 all. This sparked the comeback for the team.
Leading the charge at the bats were Manuel Margot (3-5) Hunter Renfroe (2-4) and Austin Hedges (2-4)—each added to their RBIs stats with at least one or better RBI’s. Renfroe leads the team with 84 RBIs this season, while close behind is Hedges with 61.
“It goes to show what type of players we have,” Chihuahuas manager Rod Barajas said. “When the starting pitcher sees eight to nine guys that can do damage there is no room to breathe.”
The key players for the Memphis Redbirds were Dean Anna, who hit 4-of-4, and the 21-year-old pitcher, Alex Reyes, who had 59 strikes out of 96 pitches.
In the bottom of the eighth, a RBI double by Hector Sanchez, led to Austin Hedges hitting a RBI single to make the score 6-2.
“Its just a matter of having a strong 1 through 9 lines up, and we been doing that all season,” Barajas said. “Guys were able to step in too, and not making losing players such a hard hit. That’s how you win games by having that depth.”
El Paso leads the their division with 56 wins.
Heading out for an 11 game road trip, the Chihuahuas will first face off against Sacramento Friday, July 22, in California.
Shericka Lawrence may be reached at [email protected].
