Chris Carden tossed his fourth straight quality start and Andrew Daniel homered twice to help the Gateway Grizzlies erase a two-run deficit after the fourth inning with six unanswered runs Friday night in a 7-3 win over the Southern Illinois Miners at Rent One Park.
Gateway (20-29) has won back-to-back games and four of its last five.
Daniel gave the Grizzlies a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a line-drive solo homer, then launched a long solo shot in the seventh to extend the Grizzlies’ lead to 5-3. The two blasts were his fifth and sixth home runs of the season to take over the team lead. He also walked twice and was hit by a pitch; Southern Illinois (26-22) did not retire him.
Daniel became the third Grizzlie to hit two home runs in a game in 2019, joining Brent Sakurai (May 22 vs. Evansville) and Connor Owings (May 17 @ River City). Daniel had not homered since May 31 before Friday.
Carden (4-1) worked into trouble with four walks and a hit batsman over the first two innings. He allowed three runs (all earned) on only one Miners hit in the bottom of the second inning. But Carden escaped the frame with a double play, which started a string of 16 straight Miners retired before Carden departed the game following a career-high seven innings of work. He allowed just the one hit and struck out two.
Facing a 3-1 deficit after the fourth inning, the Grizzlies made two quick outs in the fifth before Owings and Daniel both walked. Matt Brown popped up to Miners second baseman Cletis Avery, but he dropped the ball to allowed Daniel to score. The inning moved on to Luis Román, who delivered a two-strike, two-out, two-run triple to put the Grizzlies in front for good.
Gateway is 14-4 when leading after the fifth inning this season.
Dakota Smith and Patrick Boyle, who earned a hold, combined to pitch a scoreless eighth and Lucas Lanpherefollowed suit in the ninth.
Dustin Woodcock and Zak Taylor followed Daniel’s seventh-inning homer with sacrifice flies later in the frame to extend the Grizzlies’ advantage to 7-3.
Gateway and Southern Illinois will continue their three-game series with a 6:05 p.m. CDT first pitch Saturday. Ian Kahaloa is scheduled to start for the Grizzlies.
