PAPILLION, NEB. – The Omaha Storm Chasers (9-11/42-52) won their 3rd straight game Saturday evening, taking a 6-2 victory over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (10-10/45-50). The Storm Chasers bullpen worked 6.1 scoreless innings of relief while John Rave hit a home run and both Matthew Lugo and Kameron Misner collected 2 extra-base hits in the win.
Misner opened the scoring for Omaha in the bottom of the 1st inning with an RBI double that plated Lugo to give the Storm Chasers a 1-0 lead.
Omaha starter Stephen Kolek didn’t allow his first run of the game until the top of the 3rd inning, but with the bases loaded, gave up a 2-run single to put the IronPigs ahead 2-1. Kolek then exited the game with the athletic trainer and Ben Sears took his spot, sitting down the only batter he faced to keep Lehigh Valley from scoring.
Vince Velasquez (1-0) came into the game for Sears to begin the 4th inning and fired back-to-back scoreless frames, including a 1-2-3 top of the 4th inning.
The Storm Chasers then took the lead back 3-2 in the bottom of the 5th inning thanks to a 2-run double from Lugo.
Velasquez returned with a perfect top of the 6th inning for a third scoreless inning of relief and Omaha extended its lead to 4-2 in the bottom half on an RBI from Brandon Drury.
The Storm Chasers turned to Easton McGee for the top of the 7th inning, who made his Omaha debut after coming to the Royals organization in a trade from Milwaukee earlier in the week, and he worked around a leadoff single for a scoreless frame.
In the bottom of the 7th inning, Misner tripled and scored on a wild pitch to increase the gap to 5-2, then McGee struck out 3 to keep the IronPigs off the board in the top of the 8th inning.
Rave homered in the bottom of the 8th inning to bring the lead to 6-2, then Anthony Gose pitched a scoreless top of the 9th inning to keep Omaha ahead and finish off the victory.
The Storm Chasers host the IronPigs for the series finale on Sunday. First pitch is set for 5:05 P.M. CT and Mitch Spence is scheduled to start for Omaha.