June 14, 2023
Box Score: https://www.frontierleague.
TROY, NY – The Lake Erie Crushers gave up a baker’s dozen worth of runs and fell to the Tri-City ValleyCats 13-6 at Joseph L, Bruno stadium.
The Crushers (14-15) pitching staff struggled in the Wednesday morning affair, as the ValleyCats (15-14) put up 14 total hits, half of which went for extra bases. Tri-City also launched five home runs on the day, the most allowed by the Lake Erie staff in a game all season.
The scoring began in the bottom of the first inning. Cito Culver was issued a one-out walk by Matt Mulhearn and later came around to touch home on a wild pitch for either team’s first run. Later, Aaron Altherr blasted a two-run jack over the left field wall making it 3-0.
The Crushers put up one of their own in the next half-frame. Kenen Irizarry earned RBI number 11 on the season after drilling a single to the outfield which scored Jack Harris.
After one run a piece in the second and third innings from the ValleyCats, Jack Harris stepped to the plate with two runners on and one away in the top of the fifth. He saw a fastball left belt high right down Broadway and blasted it over the left-center field wall for his fifth homer of the season. This put the Crushers down just one as they trailed 5-4 with all the momentum.
In the bottom of the fifth, Tri-City answered and put a backbreaker onto the Grapes with a four-spot showing up on the scoreboard. After an RBI single from Carson McCusker, Zach Biermann came to the dish and launched a three-run 440-foot mammoth shot over the right field wall to make it a 9-4 contest.
From then on it was never close. Jiandido Tromp had an RBI single in the sixth inning and Todd Isaacs Jr. launched his first homer of the year over the left field wall in the eighth frame. But the ValleyCats had a response every time the Crushers scored – the only inning Tri-City had a doughnut on the scoreboard was in the bottom of the fourth.
Matt Mulhearn gave up nine runs off of eight hits in 4.1 innings of work for what is now his worst start of the season. The Crushers ace plain and simply did not have his best stuff today, and Thomas Bruss and Perry Bewley came out of the pen and gave up a combined four additional runs.
For a pitching staff that has been so dominant this year, this was a big surprise to see.
But, the men of Crush will have a shot at redemption tomorrow, as they square up one final time against the ValleyCats closing out their three-game-set with a 6:30 PM ET first pitch. Lake Erie will look to leave this one behind them and go for their third series win in a row for the first time all season.
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