Team ERA rises as Bums bang the ball

The Lake Erie Crushers came into May 30’s game leading the Frontier League in earned run average. Not anymore. Starting pitcher Alex Romero (2-3) allowed seven runs (all earned) in five innings at Sprenger Stadium. Home runs by Will Kengor (a two-run blast in the third) and Isaac Benard (a grand slam to highlight a 10-batter, six-run sixth) led to a 9-2 loss to Traverse City in front of 865 fans.

The Crushers suffered their second straight loss, falling to 10-7 (5-3 at home) but remained in first place in the East Division.

The Beach Bums improved to 9-8 with their thirdstraight victory — second in as many days at Sprenger.

Romero’s performance, in which he scattered 10 hits, seven runs, four walks and three strikeouts in five innings, raised his ERA from 1.42 to 3.38 and the team’s ERA from 2.56 to 2.89, just below River City’s 2.85 for the league lead.

“I thought Alex has thrown the ball well all year,” Crushers manager Cam Roth said. “Today I think he was out of his element, so to speak. I saw a couple mechanical things that needed tweaking. Little things back there makes a big difference at the plate, and they were able to take advantage of it.

“The ball was up, and when the ball’s up and the wind’s blowing out and they’re putting good swings on it, bad things happen. He’ll bounce back five days from now — I have all the confidence in the world in him. He just had a bad day.”

Romero struggled in the early going but still was staked to an early 1-0 lead following a two-out RBI triple from Aaron Hill in the bottom of the second.

“Anytime you got a lefty on the mound, you try to look at the big part of the field,” said Hill, who went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI, raising his average to .241. “I tried not to do too much, just let my hands do the work. I told myself to let (the count) get deep and I would get a good pitch to hit.

“We’ve got to get a little more aggressive at the plate, but we can’t try to do too much, either. We’ve been playing well to start the year. Sometimes you have those days where the pitcher comes out and gets you. We’ll come out (May 31) and try to get the win.”

Hill’s performance led the Crushers offense, which was limited to six hits and two runs by Beach Bums starter John Havird (1-1). Havird went eight innings and struck out eight while walking two, with only one run earned.

“I’d rather have these games now than later, to be honest with you,” Roth said. “Their pitcher threw the hell out of the baseball. He didn’t flash the radar gun, but he had a good breaking ball. I don’t know how his stats say that he gets righties out more than lefties because his breaking ball was definitely on today. I just think we had to do a better job of seeing the ball up.”

The Bums delivered in the top of the third. Arby Fields led off with a single and he scored on Kengor’s two-run blast. Kengor has gone 6-for-10 with three runs and three RBI in the two victories over Lake Erie.

“Will Kengor had two great days against us,” Roth said. “We just have to be a little more confident with him. I thought Louis Cohen striking him out at the end was a confidence booster.”

Luke Lowery followed with a single and scored on a two-out RBI single from Steve Lohr to make it 3-1 Traverse City heading to the bottom of the third.

The Crushers cut it to 3-2 in the fifth on an RBI fielder’s choice grounder from Drew Hutcheon, which scored Hill following a leadoff single and a throwing error from the Bums’ catcher. But that’s as close as they got when the wheels came off in the sixth.

Romero gave up two singles and two walks in the first four batters he faced in the sixth before Roth finally had enough.

That put Max Biedrzycki on with the bases loaded and nobody out, and the reliever promptly walked Fields to force in a run and gave up Benard’s grand slam to make it a 9-2 lead.