CornBelters surrender 3 HRs in loss at Gateway

Posted on August 27, 2015

By Greg Halbleib

SAUGET – The Normal CornBelters gave up long balls in the middle innings and lost their third straight game, 8-5 to the Gateway Grizzlies on Wednesday night at GCS Ballpark.

The CornBelters opened the scoring with the first two hitters of the second inning, a lead-off double by Richard Lucas and a two-run homer just over the right field fence by Sam Judah.

Santiago Chirino extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a first-inning single and led off the third frame with a triple, scoring on a two-out single up the middle by Lucas for a 3-0 lead.

Belters starter Kevin Johnson retired 14 straight batters after giving up a lead-off single in the first inning, but four straight Grizzlies reached base in the fifth as Ryan Johns delivered a two-run double to the left field wall to cut the Normal lead to 3-2. Ben Waldrip planted a two-run homer onto the right center field berm in the fifth for a 4-3 Grizzlies lead and the end of the night for Johnson.

The Grizzlies continued the onslaught in the seventh inning with a pair of two-run homers, a line drive to left by Craig Massoni and a towering bomb to left by Blake Brown, to increase their advantage to 8-3.

Ross Spurgeon (2-0) earned the win in relief while Johnson (7-5) took the loss.

The Belters’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot dropped to one after Florence lost the nightcap of a doubleheader, meaning the next Florence loss or Normal win will earn the Belters a post-season slot. The CornBelters’ lead in the Frontier League West Division dropped to three games with a River City Rascals win. The Belters fall to 52-34 while the Grizzlies improve to 37-48 and 6-2 this season over Normal.

The CornBelters conclude the series on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. as Mike Schweiss (7-7, 3.43 ERA) starts on the mound for Normal and Dakota Smith (2-2, 3.53) takes the ball for Gateway in a match-up of righthanders. The broadcast on WJBC.com begins at 6:50 p.m. from GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill.

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