Legends fall in extra innings before heading out on tough road trip
.JPG "Carlos Hernandez is 6-5 for the Legends this season but took a no decision Wednesday despite pitching seven innings of four-hit ball.")
The Lexington Legends lost a series for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday afternoon but remain squarely in the hunt for the second-half championship in the Southern Division of the South Atlantic League.
Omar Meregildo raced home from third base to score the winning run as the Hagerstown (Md.) Suns defeated the Legends 2-1 in 10 innings to take their second of three games from Lexington this week.
Entering play Wednesday night, the Legends stood at 21-17 in the second half, one game behind the Greenville (S.C.) Drive in the Southern Division.
The Legends open a four-game series Thursday at the Lakewood (N.J.) BlueClaws, the first-half champion and second-half leader in the Northern Division.
Legends starter Carlos Hernandez allowed one run on four hits while striking out six in seven innings on Wednesday.
Lexington took a 1-0 lead into the top of the seventh. Back-to-back singles by Manny Olloque and Carlos Diaz loaded the bases after Cristian Perez was hit by a pitch. Perez scored on a sacrifice fly by William Hancock. Hagerstown’s Jake Scudder led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run to tie the game 1-1.
That score stood until the 10th. Meregildo began the inning on second base as the Pace of Play Runner. Phil Caulfield moved him to third on a sacrifice bunt. Alejandro Flores then smacked a grounder off second baseman Ricky Aracena’s glove allowing Meregildo to come home with the winning run.
Tuesday’s late game
Seuly Matias hit his Legends record 31st home run of the season and Nick Pratto also homered as Lexington won 4-1 at Hagerstown.
Thursday
Legends at Lakewood
When: 7:05 p.m.