August 5, 2023
Box Score Link: https://www.frontierleague.com/sports/bsb/2022-23/boxscores/20230805_jfgd.xml
JOLIET, IL – The Lake Erie Crushers have lost nine straight games after falling to the Joliet Slammers by a final score of 5-0. The Crushers (27-43) have plummeted in the Frontier League standings. They are in last place in the division and sit 11.5 games back of a playoff spot.
It took a while for the scoring to begin, but the Slammers (30-40) jumped on the board first in the bottom of the fourth inning. After back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases with no one out, a fly-out to center put the Slammers on top with a run coming in to score on the play.
The damage could have been much worse, and that was all Joliet could muster onto the scoreboard. A double play ended the inning and kept Lake Erie in the game at a deficit of 1-0.
The Slammers would grow upon their lead in the seventh frame. Four straight singles to begin the inning brought home two runs. After a pitching change, a balk and a strikeout, another single scored a second pair of runs to make it 5-0.
The Lake Erie offense struggled to put anything together. Zach Racusin had the only multi-hit night and the Crushers totaled just a handful of knocks.
The losing pitcher was the starter Jonaiker Villalobos (1-3), who went 6.0 innings and gave up all five runs on 10 hits – he walked three and struck out as many. The Slammers Ryan O’Reilly picked up the win (1-3). The right-hander went the distance for his first complete game of the year.
The Crushers will be back on the slab tomorrow in hopes of avoiding a double-digit skid. Lake Erie is also looking to steer clear of getting swept for the third series in a row. The first pitch is at 1:05 PM CDT.
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