EL PASO — The Chihuahuas were up 7-4 over the Salt Lake City Bees going into the ninth inning. El Paso closer Austin Davis came on, walked the first batter, and hit the second. A double steal put runners on second and third, and an RBI fielder’s choice cut the deficit to two runs with the tying run at the plate.
Austin Davis got the save on Thursday. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
That’s when manager Pete Zamora decided to visit the mound.
“I just wanted everyone to get back to playing baseball,” said Zamora, a former minor league pitcher and longtime pitching coach in the organization. “I know things got a little emotional with [Willie] Calhoun getting hit in the wrist, and I just had a little conversation with Austin about settling things down.
“It wasn’t anything special; I just wanted things to calm down.”
Davis did exactly that, striking out the next two batters to give the Chihuahuas their second win in the series.
Nabil Crismatt got the start for the home team and threw better than his ending stat line, throwing five shutout innings before being replaced with two outs in the sixth inning.
“He has pitchability, and I know we throw that word around a lot,” said Zamora of the 29-year-old former Padre. “He’s a sum-of-his-parts pitcher. He has a good changeup, but he knows what he’s doing out there and has a ton of confidence, which is a massive part of this game.
“Sometimes he can get a little too emotional out there, but he loves to compete and has a great idea of what he wants to do.”
El Paso didn’t have a big inning but scored in four of the eight frames with a long home run by Bryce Johnson to center field in the third to get the scoring started. Brett Sullivan was the offensive star of the game, going 4-for-4 with a walk and driving in two.
Brett Sullivan reached base five times on the night. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
“Brett can be a streaky player, but when he’s on, he knows how to find the middle of the ball and spread his hits around,” said Zamora on Sullivan, who pushed his OPS to .836 and now has a batting average of .421 in September after hitting .188 in August and .167 in July.
“He’s a talented left-handed hitter with excellent hands. He can be off-balance sometimes, but when he is on, he has those moments when you can’t get him out.”
In the eighth inning, Tirso Ornelas‘s deep fly ball to left-center with two outs and two runners on was aided when the left and center fielders collided trying to make the catch. Both players were okay, but the two additional runs were the difference in the game.
Logan Gillaspie, who came in for the eighth inning, won, and Davis picked up his 11th save of the year.
[…] Watch: John Conniff hit the Borderlands Thursday morning and had coverage of the Chihuahuas victory. He’ll be in town through the weekend, or until his cardiologist sees his food […]