Pirates recover from road trip
Pirates recover from road trip
MOSES LAKE — After suffering through a 1-8 road trip, the Pirates appear to be back on track after taking a pair of games from the visiting Seattle Rainiers.
Moses Lake followed up Wednesday's 6-2 victory with a 5-1 win Thursday earning a sweep of the non-league series.
Thursday, the Pirates took advantage of several Seattle miscues to jump out to a second inning lead.
Brent Munster led off the inning getting on base after the first of three Rainier errors in the inning. Boo Christen-son followed Munster with a sacrifice bunt, and when the throw from the Rainier pitcher went sailing past the first baseman, the Pirates found themselves with runners at the corners and no outs.
With Brad Tracy at the plate, the Seattle pitcher was called for a balk that brought home Moses Lake's first run of the game. Tracy then grounded to third, but the fielder sent the throw to first well over the head of the first baseman. Christenson, who advanced to third on the initial play, was sent home by the umpires after the ball went out of play.
Tracy moved up to second base on the out of play ball, and was pushed over to third by a Lou Tran sacrifice bunt. The Pirates' second sacrifice bunt of the inning was something Moses Lake coach Gabe Boruff said his team was missing during its difficult road trip.
"We just didn't bunt very well on the road," said Boruff of his team during the nine game road trip. "That's what we tried to execute tonight."
Following Tran, Robert Reyes stepped to the plate and drove Tracy home with a deep double to the wall in center field that made the score 3-0 in favor of the Pirates. Reyes quickly stole third, and came around to score on a Justin Mitchell groundout. The Moses Lake coach pointed to this as another example of something the team has improved on since the road trip ended.
"I was really impressed with our approach at the plate," said Boruff of his team's clutch hitting.
Leading 4-0, Pirates' starting pitcher Jordan Moore had all the offense he would need on the night. Moore pitched five innings, allowing no runs on just two hits. The Pirates' starter struck out four batters while allowing only one walk.
"Our starter threw really well those five innings," Boruff said of Moore.
Equally impressive was the work of the bullpen, which allowed just one run in four innings of work. Derek Shoemaker pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning for the Pirates, and Brian Yoakum escaped a seventh inning jam with only a single run allowed.
Brandon Price threw a scoreless eighth inning, setting up an exciting finish in the ninth.
In the ninth inning, Jorge Reyes walked three batters to load the bases with one out. The Warden product was struggling with his control early, and Boruff was tempted to pull him from the game.
"He got away from his mechanics," said Boruff of the reason for Reyes' control problems.
Reyes regained his composure at the right time, striking out the next two batters looking to end the game.
"Guys need to battle and compete on the mound," the Moses Lake coach said of his decision to leave Reyes in the game. "I thought he competed well."
On the injury front, neither infielder Bo Thunell or starting pitcher Josh Enyart will return to the Pirates this season. Both players were injured at the end of the Pirates' last home stand, and did not play during the team's recent road trip.
Moses Lake begins a three-game series with Bend today. Friday and Saturday's games begin at 7 p.m., with Sunday's afternoon contest scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
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