Canaries crush Wingnuts with five-run eighth inning

The Wingnuts left the bases loaded in the fifth inning and paid for it in the eighth.

If the Wingnuts had been able to break open a one-run game, manager Kevin Hooper probably would have used one reliever to finish out the final two innings.

Instead, in a close game, Hooper played the matchups in the eighth and further taxed a heavily-used bullpen.

Four relievers couldn’t slow a Sioux Falls rally, and the Canaries sent 10 batters to the plate during a five-run eighth that carried them to a 5-2 win on Sunday at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.

The Wingnuts wasted seven scoreless innings from starter Alex Koronis and a crowd of 4,454 who came for Pete Rose’s appearance.

“We’ve been using the bullpen too much,” Hooper said. “We need to get some of those guys some rest.”

Al Yevoli surrendered two walks and a hit before his exit in the eighth, and Daniel Bennett allowed an RBI single. Franke Reed was close to escaping the inning with a 2-2 tie, but Jason Repko struck him for a two-run bases-loaded double that put Sioux Falls ahead 4-2.

Two batters later, Michael Broad made it 5-2 with a single against Alex Boshers.

Wichita was held to five hits but left 11 on base thanks to six walks, a hit batter and a Sioux Falls error. The Wingnuts rarely play nine innings without forcing some work from the opposing pitcher, but it’s often a toss-up whether they can capitalize on their quality at-bats.

The first three batters in Wichita’s lineup produced five walks on Sunday, but two hits – a pair of David Espinosa singles that didn’t leave the infield. The bottom of the Wingnuts’ order reaches base almost as frequently, but the lineup features singles hitters with occasional gap power who can’t produce runs in bunches.

John Nester’s two-out home run in the sixth inning was Wichita’s first homer at home in more than two weeks – a stretch that included a nine-game homestand – but it came with no one on base and the Wingnuts couldn’t turn Luis Hernandez’s follow-up walk into something productive.

“I feel like a lot of times we put ourselves in a tough spot (by) making a little run with two outs instead of doing it early in an inning,” Nester said. “Once you get two outs, a sacrifice fly or a groundball with the infield back doesn’t work – you’ve got to get a hit.

“Outside of a big hit here or there, the clutch hits, if we could just get those hits a little bit sooner with the No. 1 and 2 guys that come up in the inning, it’ll make things a little bit easier.”

Koronis, making his third start since being acquired early this month, had by far his best outing yet. The right-hander allowed hits to three of the first six batters, but he surrendered one hit over the final 20 Sioux Falls hitters he faced.

Koronis, who hadn’t pitched professionally since 2012, entered with a 6.00 ERA. But Sunday he pitched as if knowledge of his opponents was secondary to tailoring to his own strengths. He frequently got ahead in the count, walking one, and was assertive with runners on base – Sioux Falls had consecutive baserunners once against him.

“Anytime you get a starting pitcher added to the staff in the middle of the year, you’ve got to learn your pitcher, he’s got to learn the team and how they go about trying to win a ballgame,” said Nester, Wichita’s catcher. “I think he’s been out of the game for a while, but he came in in shape, it just took him a couple games to get back to where he needs to be.”

This story was originally published July 19, 2015 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Canaries crush Wingnuts with five-run eighth inning."