Almanza Breaks Out in 13-9 Loss
After going hitless in his first two professional games, Christian Almanza drove in three, picked up two hits and went yard on Thursday.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 11 | 2 |
|
|
1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 3 |
By Nevada Cullen
OAKLAND, Calif. -- After going hitless in his first two professional games, Christian Almanza drove in three, picked up two hits and went yard on Thursday. Still, the Oakland Ballers fell to the Ogden Raptors, 13-9.
Chris Sargent Jr. contributed to much of the early damage caused by the Raptors. He crushed a two-run tater in the first and pitched in with an RBI single in Ogden's five-run second inning, which knocked out Oakland starter Mac Lardner.
Almanza provided a loud response for the Ballers in the third. He served a two-run moonshot to left field for his first professional hit and home run. Later in the frame, Tyler Lozano lined a two-out, run-scoring single over short to bring Oakland within three, 7-4.
Ogden built a 13-4 advantage with two runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth. Sargent launched his second long ball of the contest in that span.
The Ballers refused to quit, sending eight to the plate in a four-run sixth. Almanza, Lou Helmig and Cam Bufford all delivered run-scoring hits in the frame.
Oakland managed to plate one more run in the ninth, but that was all. Pat Monteith grabbed his first pro hit in the loss, and Darryl Buggs banged out his first two pro knocks.
First pitch for game four of the six-game series against the Raptors is slated for 6:35 p.m. PDT on Friday. You can listen to the action on 860 AM The Answer and on the Oakland Ballers YouTube channel.
