BULLPENS BRILLIANT, BUT CHARLESTON PREVAILS

Liranzo Fires Immaculate Inning in Loss

The Charleston and Lancaster bullpens combined to throw one of the greatest games in Atlantic League history on Saturday evening.

Nine relievers threw nine innings of one hit baseball with just two walks and 14 strikeouts.  Two wild pitches, however, led to Lancaster’s undoing as the visiting Dirty Birds eked out a 5-4, 11-inning win at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

The stellar relief work even included an immaculate inning as Lancaster’s Jesus Liranzo followed a called strike with eight swinging strikes against the Dirty Birds in the top of the eighth.  The hard throwing right-hander topped out at 99.8 MPH in his one inning of work.

Bret Clarke (0-4) got the side in order in the top of the 10^th inning, setting the Barnstormers up to walk off in the bottom of the inning.  A 1-2 pitch to Jake Hoover bounced to the backstop, sending Marshall Rich to third with none out.  Jacob Bosiokovic (1-3) rallied to strike out Hoover, then also got Yeison Coca and Melvin Mercedes in succession to send the game to the 11^th.

Clarke returned to the hill and struck out Diego Goris to start the 11^th.  The right-hander also got ahead of Clayton Mehlbauer but threw a wild pitch in the process of walking the Charleston right fielder.  Mehlbauer stole second before Clarke fanned catcher Zachary Bridges for the second out of the inning.

Zach Warren took over and got two quick strikes on Jose Bermudez.  The center fielder took two pitches below the knees, and a third bounced away from Marshall Rich allowing the Justin O’Connor to sprint home with the deciding run.

Former Lancaster reliever Ricardo Gomez retired Andretty Cordero, Kelly Dugan and Ariel Sandoval in succession to pin the tying run at second.  Gomez earned his sixth save of the season.

Lancaster had taken a 3-0 lead off Charleston ace Danny Wirchansky in the bottom of the first.  Melvin Mercedes singled into center, took second on a ground out and scored when Kelly Dugan laced a base hit into right.  Sandoval doubled Dugan to third.  A second run scored on a ground out by Wilson Garcia, and a Wirchansky wild pitch brought home Sandoval with a third.

Charleston picked up an unearned run in the second, and O’Connor reached the right field deck for a tying homer in the third.  A Bermudez single chopped under the glove of a charging Coca gave the Dirty Birds a 4-3 lead in the fourth.

Singles by Joseph Carpenter and Coca around a Marshall Rich bunt produced a tying run in the seventh.

Lancaster will send right-hander Brandyn Sittinger (2-3) to the mound against right-hander Colt Webb (1-0) Sunday at 1:00.  The game will be streamed on FloBaseball and carried live on Blue Ridge 11.

NOTES:  The loss was Lancaster’s sixth straight and the 12^th one-run loss of the season…Coca has hit safely in 10 straight…With the four runs off Wirchansky, the Lancaster hitters kept teammate Jared Lakind in the league ERA lead at 1.90…Tyler LaPorte once again scored as the designated runner after replacing Carpenter in the seventh…Jalen Miller picked up only the third hit by a right-handed batter off Andrew Lee, who pitched the ninth…RHH are 3-for-44 against Lee.