After holding two separate leads the Calgary Vipers lost the first game of the second half 9-8 to the Edmonton Cracker-Cats at Telus Field in Edmonton, Alberta. Calgary led 5-0 and 7-5 but three errors in the seventh inning gave Edmonton their first lead and the only lead they needed for the victory.
In the top of the first Carlos Duncan hit his sixth homerun of the season with Drew Miller on, after a walk, to give Calgary the early 2-0 lead.
The Vipers added to their lead in the third when Miller reached on an error by Rob Recuenco. Jason Colson followed with a single and Kyle Nichols doubled home Miller. After a Kevin Price walk the bases were loaded for Jorge Tang who grounded into a fielder's choice for a run batted in. Shaun Ashman capped off the inning with his second hit of the night, a RBI single through the right side for a 5-0 lead.
Edmonton got on the scoreboard in a big way in the bottom of the fourth with Aaron McEachran walking, Brian Munhall singling, Clint Johnston walking, and Chris Becker singling for two runs batted in to start the inning. With one out George Sandel knocked home a run and Recuenco hit a sacrifice fly to cut the lead down to 5-4.
The Cracker-Cats tied the game in the fifth with McEachran singling and coming around to score on Becker doubling home his third run batted in of the game.
Calgary grabbed the lead back right away in the sixth with a double by Miller. After Edmonton starter Dorian Castro was pulled in favour of the left handed pitcher Quinn Monsma, Colson continued to hit left handed pitching well by doubling to give Calgary the lead with his 45th run batted in. After another pitching change to bring in former Viper Randy Waite, Nichols brought in his second run of the evening with a single to make the score 7-5.
Back and forth the game continued in the bottom of the seventh with some horrible defense by the Snakes. After a Terrence McClain walk McEachran reached on a throwing error by Colson. After a deep fly ball by Munhall to move McClain to third Johnston hit a groundball for a RBI and reached after Manabu Kuramochi threw the ball away trying to start an inning ending double play. Becker followed with his fourth run batted in on the night to tie the game and Sandel plated the go ahead run with a base hit to give Edmonton their first lead at 8-7.
In the top of the eighth Calgary had a chance to tie the game after Duncan singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. However a decision to intentionally walk Colson worked out as Nichols grounded into a inning ending double play.
A big insurance run was added in the bottom of the inning after a leadoff walk to Ryan Radmanovich. McClain followed with a single to move Radmanovich to third and McEachran cashed him with a sacrifice fly to make the score 9-7.
The Vipers threatened in the top of the ninth with a leadoff double by Price who scored after back to back groundouts by Tang and Ashman for his second RBI. Kuramochi reached on a E5 to extend the inning and Castro followed with a double to push him to third with two outs for Miller. However with the tying and go ahead run in scoring position Miller grounded out to end the ball game and stranding Calgary's eighth and ninth runners in scoring position on the night.
Waite picked up his first win of the season against his former team going an inning and a third of shutout baseball. The tough luck loss went to Ryan Olson who went an inning and a third but got no defense behind him giving up three unearned runs for his first loss of the season.
This series continues Friday and Saturday night at 7:11 PM (MDT) and concludes Sunday at 1:35 PM (MDT). All games can be heard live online at www.am770chqr.com. Calgary returns home Monday July 16th at 7:05 PM (MDT) to open a seven game home stand against the Winnipeg Goldeyes. Tickets can be ordered by calling 277-BALL (2255).
