SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Offense was hard to come by through the first five innings between Hub City (22-17) and Rome (22-18). The Spartanburgers came to life in the late innings, scoring seven runs from the sixth through eighth and blanking Rome 7-0 for Hub City’s first shutout win of the year.
After winning SAL Player of the Week honors for his 13-hit, four-home run effort last week in Asheville, Malcolm Moore brought his hot bat back to Fifth Third Park. Moore’s solo home run to the deepest part of the home confines, right-center field, opened the scoring in the bottom of the sixth. The Rangers’ 2024 first round pick also smacked two doubles and threw out a career-high three runners attempting to steal.
Moore’s all-around effort lined up Aidan Curry (W, 2-1) for a victory after one of the best starts of the right-hander's career. Curry pounded the zone through six shutout innings, tying a career-high with nine strikeouts, seven of which came through the first three innings. The Emperors knocked three hits against Curry; their best chance to score came in the second, when Curry left the bases loaded with back-to-back strikeouts.
Hub City mustered a hit in four of the first five innings against Rome starter Colin Daniel (L, 2-3) but could not score. With an out in the sixth, Moore blasted the homer to give Hub City the game’s first lead. Daniel quickly set down the final two of the inning, resting at 61 pitches through six frames.
After the first two reached in the bottom of the seventh, Carter Garate moved them over to second and third with a sacrifice bunt. An out later, Yeison Morrobel drove them both in with a sharp single, marking the end of the night for Daniel.
Riley Frey came in to get the final out of the seventh. In the eighth, Moore doubled off Frey and moved to third on a Paxton Kling single. Gleider Figuereo made it 4-0 Hub City on an RBI groundout. With two outs, Garate blistered his first minor league home run, a three-run shot to the ‘Burgers bullpen.
Cole Stasio and Joey Danielson combined for three-stress free innings out of the bullpen to wrap up the ‘Burgers win.
Wednesday, Hub City and Rome match up at 6:35 p.m. ET. The Spartanburgers hand the baseball to Enrique Segura (0-0, 6.75 ERA) and Rome relies on right-hander Jeremy Reyes (1-4, 4.83 ERA)