AirHogs Return Favor with 11-4 Thumping

Captains leave 11 on base in first seven as Markray roughed up

By JOSH HIRSCH

Updated 10:30 AM CDT, Sun, Jun 21, 2009

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Friday night, the Shreveport-Bossier Captains beat up on the Grand Prairie AirHogs with a 17-2 blowout. Twenty-four hours later, the AirHogs flipped the script, with four runs in the first and six late, en route to an 11-4 win in front of 2,112 fans at Fair Grounds Field.

Thad Markray (3-4) gave up a season-high eight runs (seven earned), and failed to retire any of the four batters he faced in the sixth, going a season-low five innings. His teammates had numerous chances against Nat Harris and Cody Crowell (3-1) to keep the game close, but Shreveport-Bossier (14-20) left 11 men on base in the first seven innings and never got closer than three runs after the first.

Harris walked and/or hit the first two batters of the first, second and fourth innings, but the Captains scored only two runs, on an RBI grounder by Andres Rodriguez in the first and a 6-4-3 double play hit into by Joe Urtuzuastegui in the fourth, when the Captains only got one after loading the bases with no one out.

The AirHogs (16-18) got four in the first against Markray after the righty struck out Aaron Garza to start the game. Drew Holder, Mike Conroy and Cesar Nicolas all singled, before Brandon Carter walked and Chad Gabriel hit an RBI grounder to make it 2-0. Then Derek Nicholson hit a two-run single to make it 4-0 before Shreveport-Bossier ever came to bat. After Grand Prairie picked up another run with some small ball in the second, Markray appeared to have settled down, with his team in the game after five.

Harris left in another bases loaded jam in the fifth with two outs, but Crowell came in and induced a ground ball to short by Kevin Griffin on a 3-1 pitch to get out of the inning. Harris did not allow a hit until an infield single in the fifth by Rodney Medina, but gave up six walks, hit three batters and was charged with two runs on the one hit in 4 2/3 innings.

Grand Prairie then solidified its lead with three in the sixth. Brandon Carter led off with a single against Markray, and then Markray threw Chad Gabriel’s bunt into center when shortstop Albert Gonzalez was late covering second. Nicholson then doubled to bring in Carter, and Gonzalez’s relay to third hit Gabriel and deflected away to allow him to score and send Nicholson to third. JB Tucker then singled to make it 8-2 and knock out Markray.

Shreveport-Bossier got two of those runs back on another infield single by Medina to drive in two runs with the bases loaded and two outs, but Rodriguez grounded out to short to end the frame.

B.J. Litchfield, who relieved Markray in the sixth, allowed a three-run homer to Gabriel in the seventh, effectively putting the game away. Luke Prihoda came on to pitch the final three innings to pick up his third save of the year. After giving up a single and a double in the seventh, Prihoda struck out B.J. Wheeler to end the inning without giving up a run, and then retired the side in order in the eighth and ninth.