Pirates back on track

MOSES LAKE — The Pirates defeated the RiverHawks 2-1 Saturday.

Jordan Esparza allowed just two hits and no runs in seven innings of work. The Pirates' starter faced the minimum number of batters in five of his seven innings, and allowed only one runner past first base.

"He controlled the game and stayed competitive," said Pirates coach Gabe Boruff. "He's a warrior."

Derek Shoemaker pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up the victory over Spokane.

With the game tied at one in the bottom of the ninth, Stephen Carlson got the Pirates going with a leadoff walk.

Carlson, taking a healthy lead at first, was caught in a jam when the Spokane pitcher went to first for the pick off. The Moses Lake runner, unable to make it back to first, broke for second base. Fortunately for Carlson and the Pirates, the Spokane first baseman was unable to grab the ball as it went sailing to the fence past the visiting dugout.

Carlson was able to come around to third on the play, putting the Pirates in position to win the game with a base hit or sacrifice fly.

Severo Rodriguez, at bat when Carlson went from first to third, earned a walk after fighting off several tough pitches from the Spokane reliever.

Following Rodriguez, pinch hitter Richie Snider came to the plate and drove a base hit up the middle to score the winning run.

"He did exactly what you're supposed to do in that situation as a pinch hitter," said Boruff of Snider's at bat.

The irony of the situation is that the play that sent Carlson to third may never have occurred if Boruff had not been ejected from the game in the bottom of the eighth. Because of Boruff's ejection, regular first base coach Kyle Heaverlo moved to third, leaving Carlson with a teammate coaching him at first base.

On the disputed call in the eighth, the umpire ruled a ball to right field that was apparently caught on a bounce as an out. Rather than having a man on at second with one out, the Pirates were left with two outs and nobody on base.

"They are missing crucial calls that are affecting both teams," said Boruff of the umpires. "When the focus starts getting on the umpires, that is not good."

While Boruff wasn't pleased with some of the calls Saturday, the play of the Pirates' defense was enough to make any coach happy.

In the fourth inning, the Pirates made a pair of defensive plays that extinguished an early RiverHawk scoring opportunity.

With a runner on at second, Boo Christensen fielded a deep fly ball to left and fired a throw in to third that held the Spokane base runner. On the next play, a sharp grounder to short was bobbled, but Brent Munster recovered and was able to throw home in time to get the Spokane runner at the plate for the final out of the inning.

The Pirates' win Saturday salvaged a series in which the RiverHawks took the first two games from Moses Lake. Thursday, the Pirates were beaten 6-4 by the league leading Spokane club. Friday, the team was beaten 3-1 by the RiverHawks.