It had been 22 months and 29 days since Wichita Wingnuts starter Jon Link had last lost an American Association start. That was a span of 14 straight wins and 22 starts without a defeat. The odds were challenging on opening night as the Lincoln Saltdogs looked to end that streak and make a statement that this team is ready to return to the American Association championship series under new manager Bobby Brown. Mission accomplished, as right-hander Shairon Martis shutdown the Wingnuts for five innings in leading his team to the 6-1 victory.

It was a scoreless first inning, but a four-run second proved to be Link’s demise. The newly acquired Luis Alen led off the inning with a single and moved to second when Rene Leveret followed with a single to left field. Next up was Brandon Jacobs, who lined a single into right field to load the bases. That brought Pat McKenna to the plate and he delivered a single of his own. Wichita center fielder Harrison Kain charged McKenna’s single, but the ball skidded under his glove and rolled to the wall. Alen scored on the single, and the other three runners reached home on the ensuing error. That staked the Saltdogs to the early 4-0 lead.

In the third they would extend the lead to five. Link retired the first two hitters of the inning, but Leveret kept the inning alive with a single. Jon Smith then delivered a huge two-out double that brought home Leveret to make the score 5-0.

The Wingnuts finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Brent Cleven led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Two batters later T.J. Mittelstaedt drew a walk to put two on with one out. A foul out made two outs and Wichita needed a big hit. Kain was up to the task, singling to score Clevlen to make it 5-1.

Lincoln responded with a run in their very next at-bats. Alexi Colon drew a walk to start the fifth inning and advanced to second when Curt Smith singled. Colon was thrown out trying to steal third, but Alen doubled to move Smith to third. A ground out scored Smith and the Saltdogs were up 6-1. That would be the final score.

Martis (1-0) looked especially sharp on the night. The Lincoln starter allowed just 4-hits and 2-walks in 5-innings of work. He struck out 4 and 53 of his 85 pitches were strikes.

The Saltdogs bullpen also came up big. Matt Shepherd, Zac Westcott, and Evan Reed combined to throw four shutout innings of relief.

Four Saltdogs hitters had at least two hits in the game. Leveret had the biggest bat of all, going 3-4 with 2-runs and an RBI. Christian Ibarra, Curt Smith, and Luis Alen were all 2-5. Smith and Alen each scored a run.

Kain was 4-4 for the Wingnuts and drove in their only run.

These two teams will square off again on Friday night. Left-hander Anthony Capra will make the start for the Wichita Wingnuts. Right-hander Matt Larkins starts for Lincoln. Game time is 7:05.

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier