Canaries Spoil Ballew Gem, AirHogs Fall, 2-1
The AirHogs experimented with a new lineup today, starting 5 different pitchers in defensive positions, but were unable to come up with enough offense to come away victorious, falling 2-1.
Travis Ballew was near dominant tonight, allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits across 7 innings of work. He made one bad pitch all game, a Clint Coulter 2 run home run. Tu Jialun followed Ballew out of the pen, providing 2 shut out innings of relief, and keeping the score close.
Keaton Steele for Sioux Falls was just as good if not better tonight. He worked 6 innings of brilliant one run baseball, and set a new season high for the Sioux Falls pitching staff with 10 strikeouts. Connor Leedholm and Luis Pollorena combined for 3 innings of shutout relief.
The AirHogs had some bright spots offensively. Erik Manoah continues his magical season, collecting two hits tonight including a double. Stewart Ijames drove home the only run of the game for the AirHogs on a double, one of two hits for Ijames today. Tyler Matzek also had a ground rule double in his first at bat of the game.
The AirHogs are back on the road tomorrow, heading to Kansas City. First pitch tomorrow is scheduled for 7:05. The AirHogs are going with RHP Zhang Tao and the Kansas City T-Bones are TBD.
Individual tickets for the 2019 season are on sale now. Visit AirHogsBaseball.com for more information.
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By Tim Costello