Armas Dazzles, Claws Open Series With 4-1 Win

Gustavo Armas retired the last 20 hitters he faced in the BlueClaws Thursday win! 
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HICKORY, NC - Gustavo Armas gave up one hit and one run over eight innings while retiring the last 20 hitters he faced as the BlueClaws opened their series in Hickory with a 4-1 win on Thursday night.
Armas (2-1) threw a career-long eight innings and allowed only a second inning home run to Sam Huff. After that home run, he retired 20 straight before Zach Warren struck out all three he faced in the ninth inning to earn his 12th save.
The win puts the BlueClaws (38-20/79-48) back to 3.5 games ahead of Hickory (35-24/65-62) as Lakewood snapped their four-game losing streak. The BlueClaws have won eight of 11 meetings with the Crawdads so far this year.
The BlueClaws tied the game in the fourth inning on an RBI double by Jake Scheiner. Scheiner, who drove in his 57th run of the year, leads the South Atlantic League with a .420 on-base percentage since the All-Star break. He is now 26-74 since July 23rd.
Lakewood took the lead in the fifth on a SAC fly from Jose Antequera and extended the lead on a two-out RBI single from Colby Fitch to go ahead 3-1.
Crawdads starter AJ Alexy (8-6) came out after allowing three runs, two earned over seven innings but took the loss. He struck out 10 without a walk.
The BlueClaws added a run in the eighth inning off Alex Eubanks on Scheiner's second RBI double of the game.
Armas and Warren combined on the BlueClaws first one-hitter since Nick Fanti's no-hitter on July 17th of last year (Lakewood gave up two hits in a May 7th win over Columbia).
The BlueClaws need to go 5-6 over their last 11 games to match the 2006 and 2010 BlueClaws with a franchise-best 84 wins, and 6-5 to set a new team record.
The teams continue their series on Friday night at 7:05 pm. RHP Andrew Brown (5-2, 1.74) starts for Lakewood opposite RHP Tyree Thompson (7-10).
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