Great Falls, MT-The Voyagers scored early and often in a doubleheader sweep of the Missoula Osprey Sunday afternoon at Centene Stadium.
Great Falls, MT-The Voyagers scored early and often in a doubleheader sweep of the Missoula Osprey Sunday afternoon at Centene Stadium.
Great Falls (12-14, 27-36) improved to 17-15 at home this season. The Osprey (15-12, 35-30) dropped to 17-15 on the road. Missoula won the season series 15-to-5 against the Voyagers, and is 29-20 against North Division opponents. The Osprey remain in second place and are five games back of Billings.
The Voyagers raced out to an early lead in game one and hung on late to beat Missoula 4-2. Playing as the visiting team, a three-run first set the tone for Great Falls. Caberea Weaver led off the game with a line drive single into center. Luis Curbelo then launched a missile high over the wall in deep left for a 2-0 lead. Curbelo's sixth homer of the season traveled 472 feet, the longest of the season at Centene. Doubles by Luis Mieses and Tyrus Greene made it 3-0 Great Falls. Both teams scored sixth inning runs as the Voyagers pushed the lead to 4-0 with an RBI single by Anderson Comas in the top half. Missoula plated two in the bottom of the sixth to trim the lead in half. The Osprey had the bases loaded in their last at-bat but a double play ended the game.
Karan Patel posted the win in relief in game one. Patel (3-3) worked one-and-two-thirds and allowed two earned runs on five hits with two strikeouts. Josh McMinn took the loss. McMinn (1-3) went four innings in his start and gave up three earned runs on six hits (HR) with four strikeouts and one walk. Caleb Freeman picked up his second save. Freeman went one-and-a-third scoreless and gave up one hit with one strikeout and one walk. Great Falls' starter Dan Metzdorf threw four scoreless and yielded three hits with five strikeouts and one walk. Anderson Comas went 2-for-3 at the plate with one RBI.
Great Falls went on the attack early in game two and polished off the day with a 10-1 win. All nine came to the plate in the bottom of the first for a 4-0 lead. Kelvin Maldonado led off with a single to left. Joshua Rivera brought in the first run on a triple into right-center. Rivera later scored on a dropped third strike that allowed Luis Curbelo to reach base. Tyrus Greene tripled to right-center for a 3-0 advantage. A double to deep center by Sam Abbott made it 4-0. The Voyagers plated two in the second for a 6-0 cushion. Rivera singled on the infield with one out. Curbelo followed with an RBI triple, and later scored on a wild pitch. Leading off the fifth, Anderson Comas gave Great Falls an 8-0 lead with a solo home run smacked to deep right for his second of the season. The lone Missoula run scored on a leadoff solo home run to left by Tristen Carranza in the top of the seventh. It was Carranza's sixth dinger of the season.
On the mound, Kaleb Roper had his longest outing of the season with a five-inning start for the win. Roper (3-0) only surrendered one base hit and struck out five. Alex Valdez suffered the loss. Valdez (1-3) lasted just two-thirds of an inning in his start and gave up four earned runs on four hits with three strikeouts and one walk. The Voyagers collected 12 base hits, including a season-high three triples. Anderson Comas led the way with three hits and three RBIs. Joshua Rivera and Luis Curbelo both had two hits and three runs.
Great Falls has an off-day Monday before facing Idaho Falls on the road for a three-game series that starts Tuesday night. First pitch at Melaleuca Field is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. For Voyagers season tickets and promotional information, call 406-452-5311 or visit www.gfvoyagers.com.
