Murphy Allows Two Homers in 4-2 Loss

Carolina 2 @ Down East 4

August 10, 2021 | Venue : Grainger Stadium | First pitch : 6:59 PM | Att : 1,230 | T : 2:59

WP: Gavin Collyer (2 - 0) LP: Brendan Murphy (5 - 6) SV: Eudrys Manon (1)

KINSTON – Starter Brendan Murphy allowed a solo home run with two outs in the second and three two-out runs, including a two-run home run, in the sixth and took the loss as the Wood Ducks defeated the Mudcats 4-2 in the opener of a six-game series at Grainger Stadium on Tuesday night.

Down East (48-36) catcher Randy Florentino had the solo shot with two outs in the second, while Luisangel Acuna had the two-run blast in the sixth. Thomas Saggese also had a run-scoring triple the sixth as the Wood Ducks wen up 4-0 in the game.

Murphy (5-6, 5.45) allowed all four Down East runs and took the loss while starting for the Mudcats (51-34). He also struck out four, walked one and allowed four runs on eight hits over five and 2/3 innings.

Reliever Juan Gerado followed Murphy out of the bullpen and went on to finish the game with three strikeouts and just two hits allowed over two and 1/3 scoreless frames.

Owen White started for the Wood Ducks, but it was reliever Gavin Collyer who earned the win. White went through two scoreless with four strikeouts in his start. Collyer (2-0, 4.20) pitched around three walks and struck out three over five innings in the victory. White and Collyer also combined to hold the Mudcats without a hit until the sixth when Ashton McGee singled to break up the no-hitter.

The Mudcats did rally back with two runs in the final frame against reliever Connor Sechler in the ninth, but Eudrys Manon eventually took over while closing the game. Sechler started the ninth with back-to-back walks and was pulled from the game. Manon (S, 1) then took over and went on to eventually earn his first save despite walking in a run and balking in another. Both runs were charged to Sechler.

The Wood Ducks moved to 2.5 games back of the Mudcats in the Low-A East Central standings with the victory. They also took a 1-0 lead in the six game series. The series will continue with game two on Wednesday night at Grainger Stadium beginning at 7:00 p.m.

HOME RUNS:

Down East HR : Florentino (2, 3rd inning off Murphy, 0 on, 2 out); Acuna (7, 6th inning off Murphy, 0 on, 2 out).

TOP PERFORMERS - BATTERS:

McGee, DH (Carolina): 1-for-2, 1 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI

Holt, 3B (Carolina): 1-for-3, 0 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI

Florentino, C (Down East): 1-for-3, 1 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Acuna, DH (Down East): 1-for-4, 1 R, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Saggese, 3B (Down East): 2-for-3, 0 R, 0 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 2 RBI

TOP PERFORMERS - PITCHERS:

Geraldo (Carolina): 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO

White (Down East): 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO

Collyer (W, 2-0) (Down East): 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO

Manon (S, 1) (Down East): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO

SCORING:

Wood Ducks 3rd (Wood Ducks 1, Mudcats 0) -- Alejandro Osuna grounds out, Freddy Zamora to Noah Campbell. Keithron Moss strikes out swinging. Randy Florentino hits a home run to right field on a 1-2 pitch. Jayce Easley ground bunts out to Wes Clarke.Jayce Easley out on batter interference.

(1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors, 0 LOB)

Wood Ducks 6th (Wood Ducks 4, Mudcats 0) -- Jayce Easley flies out to Sal Frelick. Daniel Mateo flies out to Micah Bello. Luisangel Acuna hits a home run to left field on a 1-1 pitch. Keyber Rodriguez singles to deep shortstop. Cristian Inoa singles through the hole at shortstop, Keyber Rodriguez to 3rd; Cristian Inoa to 2nd. Thomas Saggese triples to right-center field, Keyber Rodriguez scores; Cristian Inoa scores. Pitcher Change: Juan Geraldo replaces Brendan Murphy. Alejandro Osuna flies out to Michael Wilson.

(3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB)

Mudcats 9th (Wood Ducks 4, Mudcats 2) -- Ashton McGee walks. Wes Clarke walks, Ashton McGee to 2nd. Pitcher Change: Eudrys Manon replaces Connor Sechler. Wild pitch by Eudrys Manon, Ashton McGee to 3rd; Wes Clarke to 2nd. Micah Bello strikes out swinging, Randy Florentino to Cristian Inoa. Michael Wilson walks. Ashton McGee scores on a balk; Wes Clarke advances to 3rd on a balk; Michael Wilson advances to 2nd on a balk. Noah Campbell out on a sacrifice fly to Daniel Mateo, Wes Clarke scores; Michael Wilson to 3rd.

(2 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors, 1 LOB)