The Florence Freedom rode another great performance from Cody Gray to a 6-2 victory over the Lake Erie Crushers Tuesday night.
Gray (3-0) went seven innings of one-run ball, scattering five hits along the way. He struck out six batters and did not walk anyone to pick up the win. The Freedom are now 5-0 when Gray starts.
Florence grabbed the lead in the first against Zach Morton (3-2) and never looked back.
With one out Zac Mitchell reached on an error by Trevor Stevens. He advanced to second when the ball bounced into shallow right field. Mitchell came around to score on a Collins Cuthrell RBI single to make it 1-0 in favor of Florence. Cuthrell advanced to second on the throw home. He advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a Sam Eberle RBI grounder to extend the lead to 2-0.
Lake Erie cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the first on a Jose Barraza RBI double. But the Crushers wouldn’t score again off Gray.
Florence tallied another run off Morton in the fifth. With one away Daniel Fraga singled. He advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a Cuthrell two-out RBI single to extend the lead to 3-1.
They ran away from the Crushers in the sixth as Matt Rubino drew a lead-off walk against Kolby Moore. Pinch hitter Andrew Godbold got hit by the pitch to put runners at first and second. That was it for Moore as the Crushers brought in Mike Devine.
Justin Harris moved the runners over on a hit-and-run ground out. Then Travis Weaver singled both runners home to make it 5-1. He got thrown out between first and second on the play but Steve Carrillo quickly followed with a single of his own. Fraga drew a walk and Mitchell doubled home Carrillo to extend the lead to 6-1.
Lake Erie tallied a run on a wild pitch that scored Trevor Stevens in the eighth but that was it for the Crushers offensively as Ed Kohout sent the side down in order in the ninth.
The Freedom will look to win their sixth consecutive road series on Wednesday as they send Chuck Weaver (3-3, 3.79 ERA) to the mound. First pitch live from Avon, Ohio is set for 7:05 p.m.
Fans can tune in at http://mixlr.com/florencefreedom/.
From Freedom Communications