The BlueClaws held off a late rally and earned a 4-3 win on Saturday. ---
The BlueClaws held off a late rally and earned a 4-3 win on Saturday.
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GREENSBORO, NC - Trevor Bettencourt slammed the door on Greensboro as Lakewood fought off a late Grasshoppers rally to pick up a 4-3 win on Saturday night at First National Bank Field.
Bettencourt, who got the last out in the eighth, gave up two hits with one out in the ninth. After the BlueClaws just missed turning a game-ending double play, Bettencourt struck out Luis Pintor looking to end the game and earn the save. The right-hander has eight saves on the year including one in each of his last four appearances.
The win puts the BlueClaws at 7-10/47-40 while Greensboro falls to 7-8/44-39. The teams have split the first two games of their four-game series which continues on Sunday afternoon.
An Arquimedes Gamboa groundout gave the BlueClaws a third inning 1-0 lead before Lakewood added three more in the fourth.
Darick Hall's solo home run, his league-leading 17th of the season, made it 2-0 and Henri Lartigue added a two-run home run, his fifth of the season, to put the BlueClaws up 4-0. It's the third time in the second half that both Hall and Lartigue have homered in the same inning.
After Lartigue's home run, the game was stopped for 53 minutes by rain. Neither starter came out after the delay. Lakewood's Felix Paulino left after retiring all nine hitters he faced. Greensboro's Ethan Clark came out after allowing four runs over three-plus innings of work.
Greensboro got two runs in the fourth inning off Ismael Cabrera on a double by Dalton Wheat, and one in the sixth off Casey Brown on a groundout by Wheat. Brown, however, got Lakewood through the seventh and got the first two outs in the eighth.
Trevor Bettencourt came on in the eighth inning and got the last out, setting the stage for the ninth.
Dalton Wheat drove in all three Greensboro runs. Wheat and James Nelson each had two hits.
The series continues on Sunday at 4:00. LHP Nick Fanti (5-2) starts for Lakewood opposite RHP Michael King (7-4).
- BlueClaws -
