Ninth Inning Homers Lead the Chasers to Victory

Alexander and Taylor homer in the ninth to give Omaha their fifth straight victory

September 8, 2023

DES MOINES, IOWA – The Omaha Storm Chasers win their fifth straight game as CJ Alexander and Samad Taylor hit home run in the ninth to beat the Iowa Cubs 4-2 on Friday at Principal Park. Taylor got the scoring going in the third when he hit an RBI single

DES MOINES, IOWA – The Omaha Storm Chasers win their fifth straight game as CJ Alexander and Samad Taylor hit home run in the ninth to beat the Iowa Cubs 4-2 on Friday at Principal Park.

Taylor got the scoring going in the third when he hit an RBI single to center.

Max Castillo worked through some trouble in the fourth as he had bases loaded with one out. He got Iowa to ground into a double play to get the Chasers out of a jam and to hold on to the lead.

Iowa would come back to tie it in the fifth with a solo home run from Jared Young.

After 6.1 innings, allowing just one run, Castillo was relieved and the Chasers brought in Evan Sisk to take over the rest of the seventh inning. Sisk got the first batter he faced to ground out but then gave up three consecutive singles, which allowed Iowa to take the lead.

Joe Barlow threw a scoreless eighth inning only giving up one hit. He got through the inning with two strikeouts and a groundout.

With one out in the top of the ninth Alexander hit an opposite field solo shot to left center field, hitting off their score board.This was Alexander’s 13th home run on the year and it traveled 377 feet, to tie up the game. Taylor came to plate with a runner on, after Angelo Castellano hit a single, and quickly gave the Chasers the lead when he hit a two-run home run to centerfield.

The Chasers handed the ball to Dylan Coleman in the ninth, up 4-2. Coleman faced four batters, only giving up a walk. Coleman got the save, as he got the final batter he faced to fly-out to center field and the Chasers got their fifth straight win.

Samad Taylor finished the day going 3-for-5 with the three RBI and hit the go-ahead two-run home run in the ninth and Angelo Castellano went 3-for-4. Max Castillo fired 6.1 innings only giving up one run and collecting six strikeouts, giving him another quality start.

Omaha has now won five straight games and will try and extend the winning streak to six, with left-hander Anthony Veneziano headed to the mound on Saturday night at 6:08 p.m. CT in Des Moines.