Lansing rallies overshadow stellar Sample
Sample twirled six shutout frames before Brad Glenn belted a solo homer, his second in as many nights, to pull the Lugnuts to within one in the seventh. The right-hander struck out the next two batters before being lifted from the game to a hearty round of applause from crowd of 1,580.
Onassis Sirrett (L, 1-1), the first man out of the bullpen, ensured that Sample would not figure in the decision by allowing hits to the first three batters he faced to tie the game at two apiece. The Dominican righty's struggles did not end there, however, as the Lugnuts carved him up to the tune of three more runs on two hits, two walks, and an error in the eighth.
The late runs came after Sample and Lansing starter Egan Smith spent the early innings exchanging zeroes. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth when the Bees broke through thanks in part to a Kevin Nolan fielding error that allowed Deivy Batista to reach with no outs. He stole second and scored on a Luis Del Rosario single. Del Rosario, in turn, came home on a Gerard Hall double with one out to give the Bees the 2-0 advantage.
The Bees' only late threat came in the eighth, when Batista's double down the third base line brought home and run and put runners on second and third with two outs. Casey Beck (S, 1) was summoned from the bullpen and retired Jose Bonilla on a long fly to right to end the inning, then he struck out the side in the ninth to clinch the victory.
Hall and Joey Lewis each had two hits to aid the Burlington attack.
The Bees close out the Lansing Lugnuts tomorrow afternoon at Community Field on Little League Recognition Day presented by The Hawk Eye. Wear your Little League uniform to get into the game for free and participate in a pre-game parade around the field! First pitch is at 2:00 with the gates opening one hour prior.