Spartanburgers Win a Thriller in the Series Finale at Wilmington

WILMINGTON, Del. — After a two-hour weather delay, the Spartanburgers (7-7) and Blue Rocks battled for almost four hours through extra innings in the series finale on Sunday. After coming within an out of victory in both the tenth and the eleventh, Hub City finally secured a series win with a 10-9 victory in twelve innings.

The Spartanburgers got two men on in the top of the first against Wilmington starter Yoel Tejeda Jr. but could not score. With one on and one out against Hub City starter D.J. McCarty in the first, Angel Feliz roped his first home run of the season.

Hub City struck back in the second when Rafe Perich led off with a triple. He scored on a sacrifice fly from Cal Stark. The ‘Burgers tied the game a two in the third. Chandler Pollard singled to begin the inning, advanced to second on a groundout and stole third. Antonis Macias brought him home with another sacrifice fly.

Devin Fitz-Gerald singled and stole second to begin the bottom of the third. Ethan Petry drove in Fitz-Gerald on a single. A fielding error and walk helped load the bases with two outs. Marcus Brown was then hit by a pitch to make it 4-2 Wilmington. A popout ended the threat.

Two more Wilmington singles in the fourth put runners at the corners with one out. Feliz tacked on another run for the Blue Rocks with a sacrifice fly. Anthony Susac took over on the mound for the final out of the inning. The right-hander stayed on for scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh. Tejeda Jr. quieted the ‘Burgers offense in the fourth and the fifth.

Yeuris Jimenez came in to pitch a one-two-three sixth inning for the Blue Rocks. Ben Hartl singled to begin the top of the seventh against Jimenez. After a pair of strikeouts, Hartl stole second base and Pollard singled him in to force another Wilmington call to the bullpen. Pablo Aldonis took over and immediately conceded a game-tying home run to Yeison Morrobel, marking the third straight game with a long ball for Morrobel.

After a scoreless top of the eighth from Luke Savage, Robert Cranz entered to pitch the bottom half for the Blue Rocks. The inning started with a pair of walks and a pair of strikeouts. Eiker Huizi took over and threw two wild pitches to allow Arturo Disla to come around and score from second, giving Hub City its first lead of the game. Wilmington tied the game with an RBI single from Elijah Nunez in the bottom of the eighth.

Huizi tossed a perfect top of the ninth, and new reliever Joey Danielson worked around a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth to force extras. Julian Tonghini was tasked with pitching the tenth for Wilmington. Disla led off with a single to score the automatic runner. Hub City would load the bases but settle for one run.

With one out in the bottom of the tenth, two walks from Danielson loaded the bases. Jesus Gamez (W, 1-0) took over on the mound. A strikeout put the ‘Burgers one out from a win, but a walk tied the game. Gamez induced a popout to strand the bases loaded and send the game to the eleventh.

Morrobel drove in the automatic runner in the top of the eleventh with a one-out single. After a Macias walk, Disla doubled to score Morrobel. The ‘Burgers left two on base and took a two-run lead to the bottom of the eleventh. After a groundout and a strikeout, Hub City again sat just one out from claiming the series. Instead, Spartanburg native T.J. White launched a no-doubt home run to tie the game and ultimately force a twelfth inning.

New pitcher Merrick Baldo (L, 0-1) hit Hartl to get the twelfth started. After a strikeout and flyout, Pollard doubled to score the automatic runner for the third straight inning in extras. Hartl and Pollard were left stranded in scoring position.

Anthony Ho’opi’i-Tuionetoa (S, 2) entered to pitch the bottom of the twelfth with a one-run lead. A flyout allowed the automatic runner Randal Diaz to tag to third. A groundout and a flyout finally ended the game after almost four hours of game action.

The Spartanburgers come home to Fifth Third Park to begin a series on Tuesday against the Winston-Salem Dash, High-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. The first game of the series is scheduled for an 11:05 a.m. ET start. Starting pitchers have yet to be named. Tickets are available online at hubcityspartanburgers.com/tickets.

About the Hub City Spartanburgers

The Hub City Spartanburgers are the High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers and the reigning South Atlantic League South Division Champions. For more information on the Spartanburgers, visit milb.com/hub-city. For information about tickets to any of Hub City’s 66 home games, call 864-594-0701 or email: [email protected]. For media inquiries, email: [email protected]. Follow along with the Spartanburgers on social media.