'Cats Sweep Keys 10-3 with Home Runs from Lutz, Henry and Feliciano

ZEBULON, NC - Tristen Lutz hit two, two-run home runs, Payton Henry hit a two-out, two-run home run in the first and Mario Feliciano went back-to-back with Lutz in the eighth with his league leading 12th homer of the season as the Mudcats ran away with a 10-3, sweep clinching victory versus Frederick at Five County Stadium on Tuesday night.

Lutz, Feliciano and Henry combined to total five hits, seven runs, eight RBI and four home runs while leading the Mudcats (33-25) to their third straight victory. All of that production, meanwhile, came with Lutz, Feliciano and Henry each batting third, fourth and fifth respectively in the heart of the Carolina lineup on Tuesday night.
It was Feliciano who got the Mudcats rolling early as he tripled in Lutz with two-outs in the opening frame against Keys (28-29) starter Cameron Bishop. The triple put Carolina up 1-0 in the game and was immediately followed by Henry's two-run homer to right on the very next pitch.
Carolina led 3-0 after the first and after Henry connected on his seventh home run of the season. His two run blast to right in the opening frame also accounted for his 33rd and 34th RBI of the season; 22 of those 34 have come with two outs in an inning (Carolina League best).
The Keys later rallied back to tie the game with an unearned run off Carolina starter Matt Smith in the fifth and two unearned runs against reliever Christian Taugner in the sixth. Those three runs ended up tying the game at 3-3 in the middle of the sixth, but Lutz struck back with his first of two, two-run homers in the sixth to break the tie and give the Mudcats a 5-3 lead.
Bishop (L, 0-4, 4.36) allowed the Lutz home run in the sixth and ended up allowed five runs on five hits over six innings pitched for the Keys. He also walked one (in the first to start the game) and struck out four while taking the loss.
Smith worked into the fifth, but fell an out shy of going five scoreless after a throwing error at short by Devin Hairston both allowed a run to score and allowed the inning to go long enough to knock Smith out of the game. Smith reached 76 pitches (47 strikes) in his start and allowed just the one unearned run on three hits over four and 2/3 innings. He also walked one and struck out three while also inducing 10 ground outs, versus just one fly out.
J.T. Hintzen took over in the fifth in place of Smith and ended up finishing the inning with a four pitch strikeout of Jomar Reyes. Hintzen faced just the one batter in the fifth and ended up stranding two inherited runners on base.
Taugner (W, 2-4, BS, 6.02) came on for the sixth and see Carolina's 3-1 lead slip away when a throwing error on a both force out at second from Eddie Silva score Frederick's second run of the game. That error allowed Zach Jarrett to score from first after he walked earlier in the inning. The error also came on a grounder hit by Jean Carrillo and allowed Carrillo to reach moments before Yeltsin Gudino delivered a game tying single to score Carrillo from second.
Taugner lost the lead in the sixth, but his club gave it right back on Lutz's two-run blast in the sixth. He then later earned the win after working through two innings with two unearned runs allowed on three hits. Taugner also walked one and struck out two.
The Mudcats led 5-3 heading into the eighth, but then broke out for five runs against reliever Luis Perez while running away with the game. Perez (1.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 SO) gave up back-to-back home runs to Lutz and Feliciano in the eighth to score three Carolina runs. He then hit two straight batters before seeing one run come in on an errant back-pick throw to first and another on a run scoring hit to Devin Hairston. Ryan Conroy later worked the eighth and allowed a hit while holding Carolina scoreless.
The Mudcats led 10-5 heading into the ninth and reliever Cody Beckman kept it that way as he pitched around a hit while working a scoreless final frame to finish the game. Michael Petersen also pitched for the Mudcats and worked a solid eighth with one hit allowed and three strikeouts.
Lutz went 2-for-4 with three runs, two home runs and four RBI in the game for Carolina. It was his third career two home run game.
Feliciano tripled and homered while going 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI in the sweep clinching victory. His home run in the eighth was his league leading 12th of the season and his third in the last two games.
Henry went 1-for-3 with a run, a home run and two RBI for the Mudcats in the game. Ryan Aguilar, meanwhile, also had a nice night as he went 1-for-3 with two runs and a double.
The sweep was Carolina's second at home this season and third overall. It also gave Carolina a 3-0 record halfway through the current seven game, eight day, home stand versus Frederick and Salem. The Mudcats are off on Wednesday, but will be back at it at home on Thursday with game one of a four game series versus Salem at Five County Stadium. The game will air live on the Mudcats Radio Network, The Big Dawg 98.5 FM and online at carolinamudcats.com via TuneIn Radio. The game will also stream live in full high-definition video on MiLB.tv via Minor League Baseball's subscription service.
# # #