Griffin and Pinto dazzle in win over Cardinals
Foster Griffin and Julio Pinto combined to throw a two-hitter as the Burlington Royals took game one of a three-game series against the Johnson City Cardinals 3-1.
"It was huge," Royals manager Tommy Shields said after the game. "Even though we have (a lot) of guys, we didn't have that deep of a bullpen. I thought Griffin threw great and Pinto was fantastic. He had the best breaking ball of the year tonight, pitched in front, did a great job."
Griffin, the 28th overall pick in this year's draft in June, was on a three-inning limit, but made those innings count. He retired all nine batters he faced, striking out the first two, before being lifted. Pinto followed by handling the final six innings, the longest outing by a Burlington pitcher this year. He allowed two hits by Blake Drake, walked three, and hit a batter, but struck out six.
The Royals stranded runners on in the first two innings before breaking through in the third. CF Logan Moon singled to lead off the inning, went to third on a single by 2B D.J. Burt and scored on a sacrifice fly from DH Chase Vallot.
In the fourth, RF Cristian Cano led off with a walk and 3B Angelo Castellano followed with a single. After a double play, Castellano was at second with two outs, and SS Jose Martinez singled him home, going to second on the throw and third on a throwing error. Martinez would score when Moon hit a two-out RBI single.
RHP Matt Pearce was charged with the loss for Johnson City, going six innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits with a walk and four strikeouts. He retired the last seven Royals he faced after giving up the runs.
Johnson City's lone run came in the seventh when Drake led off with a double, and went to third on a balk. He scored on an RBI groundout by 3B Chris Rivera.
RHP Landon Beck came in for Johnson City and allowed two hits, a Burt single and a single by 1B Josh Banuelos. Beck fanned four Royals hitters.
Burt was 3-for-4 for the Royals, and Moon was 2-for-4.
Game two of the series will be on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. at Burlington Athletic Stadium. RHP Corey Ray (0-2, 2.70) will start for Burlington.
Burlington 3, Johnson City 1
WP: Pinto (3-0)
LP: Pearce (1-2)