Kendall Debuts as Raptors Blast Helena

Lindquist Field was abuzz Tuesday night for two different reasons. First, the Los Angeles Dodgers' first-round pick in the recent draft, Jeren Kendall, was making his professional debut as a member of the Raptors. Second, the hosts plated 10 runs in the fourth and cruised to victory from that point on, a 17-8 win over the visiting Helena Brewers.
Kendall played four innings of defense and batted three times, singling each time, before being removed prior to his spot coming up for the second time in the fourth inning. It was Kendall's first game action in over a month - his Vanderbilt Commodores were eliminated from the NCAA baseball postseason on June 10. Kendall singled and scored in the first, stole a base after a line drive hit in the third and stole his second bag in the fourth after his third hit. He also made a running catch of a pop fly on the very first batter of the ballgame.
The Raptors were down by two runs going in to the bottom of the first, but six straight hits and a groundout plated five runs and knocked out Helena's starting pitcher.
Ogden starter Edwin Uceta didn't make it out of the second, as he allowed a single, triple and home run to tie the game after he had two out and the bases empty. The Brewers then took the lead in the fourth with a two-out single following a leadoff double.
Ronny Brito opened the bottom of the fourth with a single, and Tyler Adkison walked. Moises Perez bunted for a hit, and a throwing error brought home Brito and put runners on second and third. Kendall drove both in with a base knock to center before stealing second, and a Starling Heredia hit put two in scoring position before a balk drove in a run. Romer Cuadrado walked and Nick Yarnall hit into a fielder's choice to score Heredia for the fifth run.
Hit by Gersel Pitre, Hendrik Clementina and Brito drove home two more, and following a walk Perez doubled in the eighth run of the frame before a wild pitch plated the ninth. Finally, Heredia hit a high bouncing ball for an infield hit as Perez crossed for the tenth run.
The fourth inning was the second time this season Ogden plated double-digit runs in a single frame, the first coming in the fifth inning July 5 at Idaho Falls. The Raptors had not accomplished the feat even a single time going back to 2005, the earliest available records.
Two unearned Helena runs scored in the seventh, but Luis Paz, who hadn't played since July 14 against Missoula following an outfield collision, crushed his Pioneer League-leading 10^th home run in a pinch-hit appearance in the bottom of the eighth. The shot, which landed atop the abandoned building past the right field fence, was measured at 451 feet - the longest by a Raptor this season.
Vinny Santarsiero earned the win in relief in his first appearance with Ogden this season. The right-hander went three innings and allowed four hits with five strikeouts. The Raptors picked up a game on the Orem Owlz, who lost at Billings, and are now 5.5 games behind with 9 left in the first half.
Ogden hits the road Thursday for a seven-game series, with four at Missoula and three at Helena, in their first 2017 foray into Montana.