Ogden Hit Three Times, Four Brewers Ejected in Raptors 5-4 Win

OGDEN - After snapping an 11-game road losing streak on Saturday night, the Helena Brewers (11-18) had two coaches and two players ejected in a 5-4 loss to the Ogden Raptors (12-17), leaving the tying run stranded on third base in the ninth inning.

DJ Peters hit a leadoff home run in the first inning to give Ogden a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Brock Carpenter was drilled with a 96 MPH pitch and later scored on an Ibandel Isabel RBI single. Peters then hit a two-out double in the second inning and scored when Cody Thomas followed suit with an RBI double, giving the Raptors a 3-0 lead.

Then in the bottom of the third, Luis Paz was pelted with a 95 MPH pitch, prompting home plate umpire Josh Sword to issue a warning to both dugouts.

One inning later, Peterson hit Carpenter again, this time with a 66 MPH curveball. Peterson and Brewers manager Nestor Corredor were immediately ejected. A long delay ensued as Corredor and Brewers pitching coach Mark Dewey argued vehemently with Sword and field umpire Trevor Danneger. Dewey was also tossed.

"It's the umpires discretion, rules are rules, and the umpire made a decision," said Raptors manager Shaun Larkin. "When he issues a warning, it has to go to both sides, that's the rule."

In his Raptors debut, Ogden starter Nolan Long (1-0) allowed just a single hit - a fourth inning double -- and zero runs in six innings to get the win. Carpenter added his second home run of the season in the bottom of the frame to extend Ogden's lead to 4-0.

"Great job mixing his pitches, throwing his off-speed pitches for strikes was huge, getting back in the counts and getting ahead in the count with off-speed pitches also," said Raptors manager Shaun Larkin, assessing Long's outing.

Following the dugout warnings, Larkin's message to Long was simple. "'You keep pitching in, you keep throwing strikes, keep sticking to our game plan, and it's not going to change anything.'"

Helena finally broke the shutout streak, plating two runs in the eighth inning to cut the deficit in half. Thomas then responded with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to put the Raptors up 5-2.

After a single and two walks in the top of the ninth inning, Helena loaded the bases with two outs against Tony Gonsolin (2). Lucas Erceg hit a two-run single to make it a one-run game with the tying run on third base. After the first two pitches to Nathan Rodriguez were called strikes, Nash Walters (Saturday's winning pitcher) was ejected from the dugout by Danneger. His attempt to ice Gonsolin with a slow walk to the clubhouse proved unfruitful as Gonsolin struck out Rodriguez swinging on the next pitch to close out the game.

The two teams return to Lindquist Field on Monday night for the third game of the four-game series with pregame coverage beginning at 6:45pm MT on the Ogden Raptors Baseball Network.