PostAll-Star slump continues

The Lake Erie Crushers’ postAll-Star break struggles continued July 15 with a 11-3 loss to Joliet in front of a sellout crowd at Sprenger Stadium.

The Crushers entered the break on a five-game winning streak, but have dropped two straight to start the second half of the season.

Manager Cam Roth declined to speak with media after the game.

Starter Jordan Kurokawa (3-2) had a rare slow start as the firsttime all-star gave up four hits and two runs in the first inning.

But he settled in the next five innings for his sixth quality start in as many games. Kurokawa finished his night giving up three runs on eight hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

Despite the effort, Kurokawa took the loss as the Crushers’ offense slipped back to its old ways, stringing together five hits on the night — the first, a groundrule double from Sean Hurley, didn’t come until the fourth inning.

The loss is Kurokawa’s first since May 30 when the Crushers fell, 7-1, to Windy City, but his 2.66 ERA is good for top five in the Frontier League.

The Crushers finally got on the board in the fifth as Hurley took a bases-loaded walk, but that’s all they could put together as an inning-ending strikeout left the bases loaded, and when Joliet used two errors and three hits, including Melvin Rodriguez’s three-run home

run, to plate five runs in the seventh inning, the game was all but out of reach.

Hurley led the Crushers (23-29), going 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI while Jordan Dean had a double, and RBI and two walks.

Luis Cruz earned the win for Joliet (23-28), throwing five innings of one-run ball with three hits, four walks and eight strikeouts, while Josh Merrigan went 2-for-4 with a double, Spencer Navin had a two-run single and Chaz Meadows went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

The loss drops the Crushers back to fifth place in the East Division, 12 1/2 games behind first place Shaumburg (35-16).

The Slammers will go for the sweep July 16 as the Crushers host the series finale at Sprenger Stadium before taking off on a sixgame road trip starting at River City (26-27) before winding up at Florence (3319). Connor Reed (2-5, 4.52) is the projected starter for the Crushers.

First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.