O’FALLON, MO–The River City Rascals finished off a three-game sweep of the Joliet Slammers on Sunday night at CarShield Field, blowing out the Slammers 10-3 in the final game before the All-Star break. The Rascals hit five home runs and five doubles in the finale to roll to victory.
The Slammers got a leadoff home run from London Lindley, but the Rascals responded with 10 unanswered runs to put the game away. Clint Freeman tied the game with a solo shot in the bottom of the first, then the Rascals scored four in the second, on a home run by Paul Kronenfeld, an RBI double from Trevor Achenbach and a two-run homer from JD Hearn.
Hearn doubled in a run in the fourth, and the Rascals added three more in the fifth. Freeman hit his second home run of the game to leadoff the frame, and Zach Lavy added a two-run blast. Kevin Suarez singled in the 10th run in the fifth inning. The Slammers added a couple of runs in the ninth to make the score a bit more respectable.
Rascals starter Hector Hernandez (8-1) went six innings, allowing five hits and one run, while he walked two and struck out seven. Chad Gendron pitched two perfect frames out of the Rascals bullpen.
Joliet starter Shane Bryant (1-5) took the loss, allowing six runs in four innings while striking out five.
The Rascals (29-22) end the first half of their season in first place in the Frontier League’s West Division, and will host this Wednesday’s All-Star Game at CarShield Field. They begin the second half in Sauget, IL for a weekend set against the Gateway Grizzlies starting on Friday, July 13th, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm CT at GCS Ballpark.
