Wednesday night the Laredo Lemurs sent RHP Matt Sergey to the mound. The right-hander has been an absolute beast for Laredo since joining them last season, and he continued that beast-mode run against the Wichita Wingnuts, tossing six shutout innings in leading his team to the 7-1 victory. That keeps Sergey’s record undefeated since he became a Lemur.

The Laredo righty was opposed by Wingnuts starter Eddie Medina, who was nearly as impressive. Neither team was able to generate any offense against the two right-handers early on. Sergey was absolutely masterful through the first four frames. He allowed a single and a walk in the first, but struck out the side to end the inning. In the second he issued two walks, and allowed two singles in the fourth, but the Wingnuts seemed to have no answers on how to breakthrough for a run against the righty. Sergey was pitching a gem and seemed to be getting stronger with each frame.

Medina was hot right out of the gate. The Wingnuts starter allowed no-hits through the first three innings and his no-hit big came to an end on a two out single by Drew Martinez in the fourth.  His pitches were working for him and the Laredo hitters were not having any success at all.

In the fifth, Laredo scored three thanks in large part to two defensive miscues. Travis Denker walked with one out and Abel Nieves grounded down to third on what should have been at least a fielder’s choice, however, the third baseman dropped the ball during the transition from his glove to his hand for an error. Reggie Wilson then grounded into a fielder’s choice in what should have been the final out of the inning, but the error allowed life for the Lemurs, and J.D. Pulfer came up huge, singling in a run. An error by the right fielder allowed two more runs to score and it was 3-o Laredo.

That was all the support that Sergey would need. He retired the side in order in the fifth and would have done so in the sixth had it not been for an error. Sergey (1-0) would be removed after 6-innings. He allowed 4-hits and 3-walks, with no runs scoring against him. That lowered his season ERA to 0.50. He also struck out 9, which is a season-high. In six career starts for Laredo, Sergey has never lost.

The Lemurs would grab two more runs in the top of the sixth. Martinez led off the inning with a double, but Medina retired the next two hitters. That brought Travis Denker to the plate, who ripped a two-run homer over the left-center field fence. That was Denker’s fifth homerun of the season and made the score 5-0.

The Lemurs would add two more in the top of the ninth. Denker scored on a single by Ty Morrison and Wilson would come home on a base hit by Alvaro Rondon. All seven runs for the Lemurs scored with two-outs.

Luis De La Cruz shut down the Wingnuts in the seventh and eighth, but Wichita finally ended the shutout in the ninth. Richard Prigatano doubled to start the inning and moved to third on a ground out. He then scored when Brent Dean singled to right. That made the score 7-1.

Martinez had the big stick for the Laredo Lemurs, going 3-5 with a run scored. Denker was 1-2 with 3-runs scored and 2-RBI. Dean had two hit and the RBI for the Wingnuts.

These two teams will finish out their four-game set on Thursday evening. Charlie Leesman (0-1, 3.85) starts for the Wichita Wingnuts. Laredo will send RHP Troy Marks (0-1, 3.37).

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier