El Paso’s Bark Too Much For Dodgers In Game 2

The El Paso Chihuahuas scored seven runs between the fifth and sixth innings to take command of Game 2 of the PCL Championships Series in a 10-4 win over the Oklahoma City Dodgers Wednesday night at Southwest University Park. 

With the win, the Chihuahuas have taken a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. After a travel day Thursday, the Dodgers will host Game 3 Friday night at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark and will need to win all three home games this weekend to claim the league championship.  

Tied 2-2 heading to the bottom fifth, the Chihuahuas scored four runs to break the game open. Carlos Asuaje homered to right-center field, putting El Paso in front. Later with two outs in the inning, Diego Goris hit a RBI single to make it 4-2. The next batter was Jose Rondon, who hit a sharp grounder to second baseman Drew Maggi. The ball got past Maggi, and the play was scored a two-run single. 

The Chihuahuas kept rolling in the sixth inning. Manuel Margot hit his second triple of the night, scoring Nick Torres to give El Paso a 7-2 lead. After a sacrifice fly by Asuaje, Austin Hedges belted a home run out of the stadium past left field to make it 9-2. 

Maggi hit a RBI single in the seventh. The Dodgers loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth with a chance to tighten El Paso’s lead. However, lefty Jose Torres came into the game for El Paso and allowed just one run. He induced a ground ball double play off Micah Johnson’s bat, and then got Will Venable to ground out.  

Hedges got the Chihuahuas into double digits when he hit his second home run in the bottom of the eighth. 

The Chihuahuas tallied 14 hits, with six going for extra bases. Although the Dodgers collected 13 hits, they did not have any extra-base hits and went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position.  

The Dodgers pitching staff’s postseason struggles continued. They have now allowed 26 runs over the past three games and have allowed at least six runs in five of their seven playoff games. The team’s postseason ERA currently stands at 6.00. 

One night after taking an early 5-0 lead, the Dodgers fell behind quickly, 2-0, in the first inning. Margot led off with a triple and the scored on a wild pitch on ball four to Asuaje. Hedges followed with a RBI double to make it 2-0 before an out had been recorded. 

After a rocky beginning, Dodgers starting pitcher Chase De Jong was able to hold the Chihuahuas scoreless over the next few innings to allow the Dodgers to tie the game.  

OKC failed to score after loading the bases with one out in the second inning. In the third, Kyle Farmer hit a two-out RBI single to cut El Paso’s lead to 2-1.  

Farmer finished Game 2 by going 3-for-5. He is now 5-for-8 in the Championship Series and 10-for-22 in the playoffs. Maggi tied Farmer with a team-high three hits.  

The Dodgers tied the game as part of a crazy fourth inning that included four errors by the Chihuahuas and a runner thrown out at the plate. With a runner on and none out, Alex Hassan hit a grounder to Rondon, the El Paso shortstop. Rondon committed both a fielding error and throwing error on the play, putting runners at the corners with none out.  

Brandon Hicks then laid down a RBI squeeze bunt, and El Paso pitcher Frank Garces committed a throwing error, putting runners at first and second. De Jong came up next and sent a firm bunt to the third baseman Nick Noonan. Noonan fielded the ball and threw to Rondon at third base for the force out. Rondon then threw to first base trying to complete a double play, but his throw was wide and went into foul territory. The right fielder Hunter Renfroe picked up the ball and threw home, where Hedges tagged out Hicks, who was trying to score from second base.  

The Chihuahuas ended up committing five errors in the game, although it didn’t ultimately serve as a deterrent in their victory. 

Garces (1-0) allowed two runs (one earned) over five innings to notch the win. The lefty allowed seven hits, with one walk and six strikeouts. 

De Jong (0-1) left in the middle of El Paso’s fifth-inning rally. He was charged with five runs and seven hits over 4.1 innings. He walked three and struck out two in the loss.  

The Dodgers will host Game 3 at 7:05 p.m. Friday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.