9-News: 37.049 – Late Inning Heroics Fall Short

[RonCo]

Double Play Douses Dream


Nate Wood hit a tapper back to the mound to start a 1-6-3 double play, breaking the hearts of Nine fans who had been wishing for an extra dose of magic instead. The GDP came in the ninth inning, with runners at the corners, and cemented a tough 5-4 loss.

“We played well enough to win,” manager Bret Richards said afterward. “But so did they.” The “they” in this case was Pacific division contender Long Beach.

There were positive signs in that Lucas McNeill hit his second homer in two days, and that other than a tough 5th inning in which he allowed a grand slam to Mark Sturdivant and a solo shot to Jesus Ayala, rookie starter Callum Maybury was effective. The bullpen, too, was locked-down. Still it was a tough loss for a team that’s played its way to the cliff’s edge and can’t really afford to lose the tough ones any more.

“I wish I could have done something better, but we’ll be back again tomorrow,” Wood said.

Bottom line, things aren’t getting any easier. The Nine finish the series in Long Beach tomorrow, the return home to host the Frontier contending Seattle Storm.