FREDERICK, MD. - After dropping the opener of the twin bill 8-1, the Frederick Keys (29-34) ended their eight-game skid by holding on to a 4-3 win against the Carolina Mudcats (36-28) in game two on Tuesday night at Nymeo Field. Willy Yahn led the offense, going 3-for-5 with three
FREDERICK, MD. - After dropping the opener of the twin bill 8-1, the Frederick Keys (29-34) ended their eight-game skid by holding on to a 4-3 win against the Carolina Mudcats (36-28) in game two on Tuesday night at Nymeo Field. Willy Yahn led the offense, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs while J.C. Escarra's run-scoring single in the fifth inning proved to be the difference maker in game two. The Keys win is their first since June 1 and snaps a season-high losing streak.
In game one, Cameron Bishop was cruising through 2.2 innings before the inning spun away from him. He walked a pair of batters and gave up a hit to load the bases for Payton Henry, who drew ball four on a full-count pitch to make it 1-0 Mudcats. Rob Henry than smacked a single to centerfield which scored two runs before the other Henry was tagged out in a run-down.
Yahn got one back in the third, scoring Yeltsin Gudino on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1 but that was all the Keys would get. Matt Smith (2-5) allowed that lone run in five innings where he gave up five hits and struck out five.
Bishop (0-5) also completed five and only gave up three runs. He also allowed a career-high five walks while striking out four.
Steven Klimek came on in relief but was roughed up after he retired the side in the sixth. The Mudcats tallied five runs on five hits, including a bases-clearing RBI double from Rob Henry, who finished with five RBIs on the night. The big inning ended Klimek's scoreless innings streak at 20 frames.
The Keys got a great start in game two from Luis Perez, who rolled two double plays and faced two over the minimum in four shutout innings. It was his first start of the season after making 16 relief appearances.
Meanwhile, the Keys were able to take an early lead in the second inning. After Kirvin Moesquit singled and stole a base, he advanced to third on a Cole Billingsley single and was able to score on Yahn's groundball up the middle to make it 1-0 Frederick.
Eddie Silva tied it with a solo home run off of Scott Burke in the fifth inning, but the Keys answered right back. Moesquit and Stuart Levy were moved to second and third on a sacrifice bunt from Billingsley and Yahn came through again with an RBI single to left field. Jomar Reyes then hit a slow roller to short, but Julio Garcia's throw to second base went wide allowing Levy to score and make it 3-1. Escarra then added another on a run-scoring single.
The Mudcats did not quit as Ryan Aguilar singled to lead off the sixth and Tristen Lutz followed with a two-run home run to make it a 4-3 game. Diogenes Almengo then walked two batters and allowed them to advance to second and third, but he struck out Zach Clark and got Garcia to fly out to end the threat.
Almengo (S, 7) saw Lutz again with a runner on in the seventh, but he struck him out to preserve the win. Burke (1-1) was awarded the victory, while Noah Zavolas (3-3) was dealt the loss. Zavolas allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits and struck out just one in five innings.
The Keys and Mudcats square off for the final game of their three-game set on Wednesday, June 12. The Keys will start LHP DL Hall (2-2, 3.92) opposite RHP Braden Webb (1-2, 3.82) with first pitch scheduled for 7:00pm. Fans can listen to the game at frederickkeys.com or on the TuneIn app with pregame coverage starting at 6:45pm.
