Sinclair Dominates as Hawks Reach .500
Sinclair (WP, 2-1) turned in his second fantastic start in a row, allowing just one unearned run over 7.2 innings to win his second straight start. The left hander gave up just four hits, and the run that was charged to him was scored after he turned it over to the bullpen.
Asencio helped the Hawks to their first run in the fourth inning. Brett Lorin (LP, 4-2) walked Ramon Ramirez with one out, and Asencio's double put runners at second and third. Reynaldo Navarro followed with an RBI single for the 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, Asencio drove in the runs himself against reliever Ryan Moorer (ND). Justin Parker started the rally with a single and moved to second when Rossmel Perez was hit by a pitch. A groundout advanced both runners, and they came in to score on Asencio's double to center for the 3-0 lead. That capped a 3-for-3 night for Asencio, who extended his hitting streak to a personal high 10 games.
The Silver Hawks added their final run against Moorer in the eighth, with Parker driving in Brendan Duffy to round out the scoring.
Clinton scored their lone run against Sinclair in the top of the eighth. With two outs, Denny Almonte doubled to right center and Scott Savastano followed with a walk. Sinclair was replaced by reliever T.J. Hose (SV, 5), who induced a ground ball from Steve Moss. However, the ball was misplayed by Parker on a bad throw to first, and the error allowed an unearned run to score.
The series continues Saturday afternoon with a 2:00 PM Eastern Time start. RHP Sean Morgan (1-1, 3.34 ERA) will start for South Bend, with Clinton expected to add RHP Alfredo Venegas (0-1, 3.72 ERA) back to their roster for the starting role. Pregame coverage begins at 1:40 PM Eastern Time on 1620 ESPN Radio and online at www.silverhawks.com.