MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Biscuits scored early and late, and squeaked by the Biloxi Shuckers, 3-2, on Opening Night in front of a terrific crowd of 6,529 on Thursday at Riverwalk Stadium. The win was just the Biscuits' fourth on opening day in 15 seasons.Génesis Cabrera got the start for
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Biscuits scored early and late, and squeaked by the Biloxi Shuckers, 3-2, on Opening Night in front of a terrific crowd of 6,529 on Thursday at Riverwalk Stadium. The win was just the Biscuits' fourth on opening day in 15 seasons.
Génesis Cabrera got the start for the Butter and Blue and was unhittable early on, striking out four of the first six batters he faced. The 21-year-old southpaw would get some help from Andrew Velazquez in the first inning when Montgomery's lead-off hitter swung at the first pitch he saw from Biloxi righty Luis Ortiz and launched it over the right field wall for an unforgettable start to the season.
Later in the first, newcomer Nick Solak would double the Biscuit lead to 2-0 on a sac fly, and that was all Cabrera would need through the first three innings.
In the fourth, the Shuckers mounted a comeback after Lucas Ergec's lead-off double. Clean-up man Tyler Heineman swatted a double of his own to knock in Erceg, and then a batter later, Corey Ray floated an RBI-single into center field to tie the game at two.
The game remained deadlocked until the bottom of the seventh when Ryan Boldt singled to begin the inning, and Jermaine Palacios followed suit with a walk-both against Quinton Torres-Costa (0-1). Shuckers manager Mike Guerrero then summoned Tristan Archer from the bullpen, who got Mike Brosseau and Velazquez to fly out, before facing Jake Cronenworth.
Cronenworth then hit a tapper up the first baseline, which Archer fielded cleanly, but then threw off-balance past first baseman Jake Gatewood and into right field, bringing home Boldt from second with the game-winning run.
Biscuits reliever R.J. Alaniz (1-0) earned his first win in the Capital City, working around some traffic through 1.1 innings before handing the reigns to Kyle Bird in the ninth. The lefty who led the Southern League with 53 appearances in 2017 would allow a pair of baserunners before striking out Erceg to end the game.
The Biscuits will try to improve to 2-0 on Friday night when Zach Lee takes on Zack Brown at 6:35 PM.
