The Brazos Valley Bombers bats came alive in the third inning of tonight’s game against the Victoria Generals. With one out, Clifton Thomas singled off of Generals pitcher Michael Oros. Casey Dykes then stepped up to bat, and belted a two-run home run over the left field fence to break the scoreless tie. That’s all the scoring the Bombers would do, as they fell to the first place Generals 6-2.
Corey Sartor made his first start as a Bomber tonight, and threw well for the first four innings. After giving up back to back singles to start the first inning, Sartor would go on to retire the next nine Generals to step up to bat. The Bombers kept the hot bats of the Generals cool until the fifth inning. A lead off walk, followed by a hit batter put two on and no out in the inning. Victoria catcher, Michael Pair would then lay down a sacrifice bunt, to put both runners in scoring position. RBI singles by Bryson Miles and James Hipp would tie the game at two. Hipp’s single brought Sartor’s night to an end. Marc Damon would come on to pitch with one out in the fifth. Mark Hudson, the league leader in batting average singled to left to give Victoria the lead. When the inning ended, Victoria had a 4-2 lead. The Bombers picked up a few more hits, but could not score again after the third. Victoria would add on two more in the eighth, and go on to win 6-2.
The Bombers still control their own destiny in the TCL playoffs, after the McKinney Marshals fell at home in 11 innings to the East Texas Pump Jacks. Going into the final day of the regular season, the Bombers hold a one game advantage over the Marshals, a Bombers win would seal a playoff birth for the third straight season.