Flagstaff opens June schedule with a split with NC
The Flagstaff Outlaws returned to Phanatic Field after splitting a two-game series early in April and continue those splitting ways by taking two from the Iron Spider Pigs of North Carolina.
Game 1: Wood v. Kennedy – Alex Wood made his long anticipated 2019 debut and got immediate run support as the Outlaws cranks three homers over the first three innings to give the Wood a 4-0 lead.
Wood had been a bit shaky to that point, giving a couple of hits, but also adding a balk and hitting one Spider Pig batter. In the fourth, a walk to Buster Posey was followed by a pair of singles and Posey crossed the plate for North Carolina’s first run. After getting Ian Happ to whiff, Ian Kennedy helped his own cause with an RBI double to get his Spider Pigs with two runs.
In the seventh, Flagstaff put the game away. Jarrod Dyson hit for Wood in his first action with his new team and launched a solo homer to start the seventh. George Springer added a two-run double later to push the Outlaw advantage to 7-2.
In the ninth, Luis Cessa was trying to get through a second inning of work in a mop-up role, but a one-out single to Willy Adames got the Spider Pig crowd going. The Posey singled with two outs. Sensing a key moment, Flagstaff went directly to closer Ryan Pressly who got Joe Rickard to ground back to him to end the threat.
Flagstaff 7, North Carolina 3.
W: Wood (1-0)
L: Kennedy (0-1)
Sv: Pressly (16)
HRs: FLG – Span (4, 5), Judge (13), Dyson (1); ISP – none.
Game 2: Johnson v. Chen – North Carolina opens things up with solo homers from Adam and Michael Conforto to build an early 2-0 lead.
Kevin Plawecki gets one of those runs back for Flagstaff, singling in Springer in the top of the second.
The score would stay 2-1 in favor of the Spider Pigs into the sixth when Brian Johnson would stumble. A single, hit batter and a walk would load the bases and stir up trouble. Posey walked in one run while Rickard double in two and North Carolina extended their advantage to 5-1.
Andrelton Simmons would rally the Outlaws with a solo homer in the eighth and a two-out RBI single in the ninth to draw Flagstaff within striking distance. With the tying runs on base and Paul Goldschmidt representing the go-ahead run, Tyler Clippard got Goldy to ground out and the Iron Spider Pigs hold on, 5-3.
W: Chen (2-3)
L: Johnson (3-7)
Sv: Clippard (1)
HRs: FLG – Simmons (5); ISP – Adames (5), Conforto (8).
Game 3: Richards v. Holland – Also making their 2019 debut for the Outlaws in this series was Trevor Richards. However, Richards was done in by a four-run fifth inning as North Carolina holds on for a 6-4 victory.
Flagstaff had tied the game on a Plawecki RBI double in the top of the fifth that cancelled out a Posey solo shot in the third. But in the bottom of the fifth, Richards got hit by a thousand paper cuts. A single and error put the first two runners on base. After Derek Holland struck out, Adames and Posey followed with singles with Adames single scoring one. Matt Chapman drew a walk that forced in another run while Joey Votto followed with an RBI single. Conforto adds a sac fly and North Carolina jumps out to a 5-1 lead.
The lead stands at 6-1 during the Outlaws last at bat when the Outlaws rally against Kelvim Herrera. Herrera gets the first batter, but a single, hit batter and double pushes one run across. Simmons singles in another run. Span pushes another run across with a sac fly, but that made it two out. Goldy singled to bring up Aaron Judge who represented the go-ahead run, but he struck out to end the game.
W: Holland (2-5)
L: Richards (0-1)
Sv: None
HRs: FLG – none; ISP – Posey (3), Conforto (9).
Game 4: Tropeano v. Flaherty – Flagstaff jumped out to an early 4-0 lead only to see the Spider Pigs inch back with single runs in the fourth and fifth to make this a 4-2 game.
Jonathan Villar and Jordan Luplow each had RBI singles in the first, while Goldschmidt homered in the third and Dyson singled in a run in the fourth. North Carolina got a Confroto RBI groundout and a solo smash from Posey.
In the eighth, the Outlaws break the game open as Goldy singles in one run while Jonathan Villar doubled in two. Flagstaff earns the split with an 8-2 decision.
W: Tropeano (1-3)
L: Flaherty (4-3)
Sv: None
HRs: FLG – Goldschmidt (9); ISP – Posey (4).