Twins blanked by Blue Jays, 6-0
Published 6:00 am Friday, June 21, 2019
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde Two Twins fans collide during bumper ball between innings.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde The Elizabethton Twins ground crew go head to head in a tug of war to prove who does more work at the field.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde Two fans are cheered on by the Twins mascot, Rookie, during a round of musical chairs at the game Wednesday night.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde A twins fan makes an outfield grab of her own during the chicken toss.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde Willie Joe Garry for the Elizabethton Twins makes a spectacular running grab on a deep ball to right field for the out.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde Twins catcher Janigson Villalobos and pitcher Ryley Widell have a quick conference at the mound.
Seth Gray for the Twins goes for the tag out at third, but comes up short.
Star Photo/Brandon Hyde Twins pitcher Riley Widell throws a strike against Bluefield.
BY ALLEN LAMOUNTAIN
STAR CORRESPONDENT
There was no late-inning heroics for the Elizabethton Twins on Wednesday night at Northeast Community Credit Union ballpark.
After five innings of solid pitching, the Twins bullpen gave up five runs from the sixth frame on as Bluefield took the contest 6-0.
Left-hander Riley Widell (0-1, 2.25) got the start for the Twins (1-1) and he pitched four solid innings giving up one run on just two hits. He struck out six and did not issue a free pass, but also was saddled with the loss.
“Our starter got a little better as he progressed,” Twins manager Ray Smith said. “We’ll piggyback him with Benninghoff, but that middle guy Griffith has a live arm and a late-breaking slider. “He looks like an end-of-the-game type guy. We popped out a lot today, but Bluefield threw some live arms at us. They have some good power arms.”
The Jays reached Widell in the top of the second on a leadoff double from designated hitter Spencer Horwitz and a two-out infield single from first baseman P.K. Morris.
The Jays tallied three runs in the sixth against Twins reliever Tyler Benninghoff when centerfielder Steward Berroa doubled with one away.
A walk to Addison Barger was followed by an RBI single from Lenardo Jimenez for a 2-0 Bluefield advantage.
Horwitz then spanked a single to right that went under the glove of Max Smith for an error that saw two runs score and put Horwitz on third.
Twins centerfielder Willie Joe Garry, Jr. then showed off his arm on a fly ball off the bat of Miguel Hiraldo as his throw to the plate nailed Horwitz who attempted to tag and score on the fly ball for a double play, but the Jays now led 4-0.
In the seventh frame, Morris hit a blast off the left centerfield wall that Garry, Jr, crashed into after a long run.
The collision with the wall jarred the ball loose as Morris touched them all for an inside the park home run and a 5-0 Bluefield lead.
The Jays struck again in the eighth when Horwitz greeted the Twins fourth pitcher Frandy Torres with a double off the scoreboard to plate Jimenez who had singled off Benninghoff.
Designated hitter Albee Weiss collected a pair of hits and is 3-for-7 for the season for a .429 batting mark.
—
Bluefield 6-0
Bluefield 010 003 100 – 6 10 0
E-Twins 000 000 000 – 0 5 1
W – Estrada. L – Widell.
