Lee Gwaltney worked five solid innings to earn his first win of the year as the Cats defeated Grand Prairie 7-5 on Thursday night at LaGrave Field in the 2009 season opener.
Despite giving up an unearned run in the first inning, Gwaltney cruised through five more innings while striking out four and permitting just three hits.
The Cats scored twice in the first inning on consecutive RBI singles by Pat O'Sullivan and John Allen. They tacked on three more in the second as Brian Fryer doubled to left, scoring two before coming around to score himself on a wild pitch.
Grand Prairie narrowed the lead to 5-4 in the sixth inning when the first three men reached and came around to score on a wild pitch and a two-run Cesar Nicolas single.
But the Cats rebounded and scored twice in the sixth for a 7-4 lead.
After Kelly Casares worked out of two jams, Alex Morales threw a scoreless eighth inning before Dustin Cameron arrived to slam the door in the ninth, striking out JB Tucker, who represented the tying run, to end the game. It was Cameron's first save in a Cats' uniform.
Grand Prairie's Kieran Mattison (0-1) suffered the loss after lasting only two innings and permitting five runs on five hits. Grand Prairie's David Espinosa had three hits and three runs scored in the game for the AirHogs.
The two teams meet again on Friday night at 7:05 p.m. Aaron Crow pitches for the Cats as he faces Matt Green for Grand Prairie.
