Mavericks hang on for another win over Giants
By Sean Rooney on June 22, 2018.
Medicine Hat News The third straight win in Fort McMurray sure was the toughest for the Medicine Hat Mavericks. A tense ballgame ended with controversy and certainly some upset home fans at Shell Place Thursday, as the Mavs staved off two bases-loaded jams in the final innings for an 8-7 win. RELATED: Mavs keeping things simple in Fort Mac Hat relief pitcher Tyler Shumpert inherited a four-run lead with nobody out and the bases full in the eighth inning. The Giants only got two runs after Shumpert induced a double play ball. Fort McMurray threatened again in the ninth, loading the bases with one out. Shumpert threw a wild pitch and the lead was down to one. Then he hit Jordan Stickler with a pitch, but home plate umpire Marcus Erlandson ruled Stickler hadn’t tried to get out of the way, so the at-bat continued. On the next pitch Stickler hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game. Jaxson Hooge’s RBI triple in the top of the eighth proved to be critical after the visitors had seen an early 5-0 lead dwindle. Hooge scored what turned out to be the winning run when fellow outfielder Julien Ly singled him in. Starting pitcher Barry Caine (3-0)struck out six Giants in five innings, getting early support from a four-run second inning puncuated by Ly’s two-run double. Nolan Rattai was 2-for-5 with a double and Colton Wright went 3-for-4. Tyler Hodder took the loss, giving up six runs in six innings. Liam Riehela’s three-run home run in the third produced most of the Giants offence until wild pitching by Medicine Hat made for the crazy finish in front of an announced crowd of 510. Shumpert had worked the last two innings of Tuesday’s extra-inning win and now has three saves on the season. Now 13-3, the Mavericks play the 5-12 Giants one last time tonight before making the long trip home Saturday. They host Lethbridge Sunday at Athletic Park. 13-12
