O’FALLON, MO–The River City Rascals closed out their seven-game homestand in style on Thurday night, winning the series finale over the Windy City ThunderBolts by a score of 5-2 at CarShield Field. Starter Jonny Ortiz (5-1) was brilliant, giving the team eight innings while allowing only two runs, no walks and nine strikeouts. Mike Jurgella had two homers and three runs batted in and Ross Haffey finished with three hits on the night.
Omar Obregon put the Bolts on the board early, with a leadoff homer on the first pitch. Ortiz would recover to retire the next 11 hitters in a row. Mike Jurgella put the Rascals on the board with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first, and the Rascals would never relinquish the lead. Jurgella led off the 3rd with a solo shot to right-center, and Haffey added another run on a single up the middle.
Tyler Straub gave the ThunderBolts a two-out home run in the fourth inning, cutting the Rascals lead to 4-2. Paul Kronenfeld gave the Rascals an insurance run on an RBI single in the seventh, and Joe Iorio earned his second save to seal the win.
Bolts starter Braulio Torres-Perez (1-3) took the loss, going eight innings and allowing five runs, throwing 159 pitches.
The Rascals (37-33) hit the road for a nine-game trip, starting in Washington, PA tomorrow night against the Washington Wild Things, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm ET.
