Situational Hitting Helps Legends Beat Merchants 4-3
Alameda, Calif. – There are several ways to win baseball games: hitting homeruns, having shutdown pitching, and playing stellar defense are a few that come to mind. The Menlo Park Legends utilized a fourth way to win a baseball game and it came via executing in key situational at bats. The Legends scored one run in fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh in different fashions to walk away 4-3 winners against the Alameda Merchants in game two of the three games series. The win improved the Legends to 4-1 while the Merchants fell to an even .500 at 4-4.
Jonathan Hernandez got the start for the Legends and was solid in his four innings of work, but his defense did not help him in the bottom of the second. The inning began with an error on shortstop RJ Williams who misplayed a bouncing groundball. That leadoff batter would eventually come around to score two batters later on an RBI single. The inning could have been a lot worse for the Legends because immediately following the run, Miguel Pimentel botched a groundball at third base. All-in-all, Hernandez went four innings, allowed four hits, two runs (one earned), walked one and struck out one in his first outing of the year.
The Legends got on the board in the top of the fourth after RJ Williams reached via an error from the Merchants’ second baseman. Singles from Turner Bishop and Tyler Nelin loaded the bases for Menlo Park, and Chandler Bengston hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score the run, but that’s all the Legends would get. In the fifth, Miguel Pimentel led off with a solid double to left center, and came around to score on a Steven McLean groundout. Bishop led off the sixth inning with a double of his own and came around to score when Scott Ota reached base safely on another Merchants error with one out. Pimentel got another rally going in the top of the seventh when he opened the frame with a single and was followed by Cristopher Castillo who also singled. McLean bunted both runners up ninety feet and Williams hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Those crucial at bats to drive home runs proved to be vital for the Legends in this game.
Ryan Lefner got credited with the win for his two shutout innings of relief work after Hernandez. He faced just one batter over the minimum during his stint. Sheldon McClelland was summoned to pitch the final three innings of the game and he made it interesting in the bottom of the eighth, walking three and allowing a run to score on a wild pitch. However, he induced an inning-ending groundout and pitched a clean ninth inning to earn his first save of the season and ensure a series victory for the Legends.
The three-game series between the Legends and Merchants wraps up on Friday at 5:00 PM with the Legends serving as the home team. The game will be played at Canada College as just the second home game of the season for the Legends. Come on out to the ballpark or catch the game live on the Legends Radio Network and don’t miss a minute of the exciting summer season!
