Wednesday July 21, 2010

Augusta, GA – Evan Crawford provided the Augusta GreenJackets with their ninth walkoff win of the season with an RBI single to right field in the ninth inning of a 6-5 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers on Wednesday night. The Jackets have now won three straight, their longest such streak in nearly a month.

It was just the second time the GreenJackets pulled out a win in a game they trailed after eight innings as Augusta trailed 5-4 entering the ninth. Ryan Cavan walked to open the frame, moved to second on a wild pitch and took third on a groundout that was the inning’s second out. Hector Sanchez’s first hit of the night – a single through the right side – scored Cavan to tie the game at five. After Daniel Cook walked to move Sanchez into scoring position, Crawford’s single to right scored Sanchez when Rand Smith’s throw went up the first base line and was mishandled by Greensboro catcher Kyle Skipworth. It was the fourth walkoff winner off Crawford’s bat this year and Augusta’s second straight one-run victory.

Greensboro scored three times in the first to take an early lead off Andy Reichard. Justin Bass’s two-run triple gave the Grasshoppers an early lead that grew to three when Sequoyah Stonecipher’s groundout scored Bass. The lead stretched to 4-0 in the sixth on Terrence Dayleg’s RBI single.

Reichard settled down to turn in another solid start for the Jackets, firing 6.2 innings and allowing four runs – three earned – on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts. It was Reichard’s sixth straight appearance of six innings or longer.

Augusta struck back in the bottom of the sixth, batting around and scoring three times. Crawford and Ryan Lollis singled in runs while Ydwin Villegas grounded out to bring in another and cut Greensboro’s lead to one. The Jackets loaded the bases with two outs for Chris Dominguez, but the All-Star third baseman popped out to foul territory on the first pitch to end the threat.