WILL POWER
West tops East in hit-off after 4-4 tie
TRENTON » Down to its last out, the East squad got the big hit it needed from the hometown player.
The Thunder’s Trey Amburgey doubled down the left-field line with two outs in the ninth to send the Eastern League AllStar game to a gimmick hitting competition after the game ended a 4-4 tie at Arm & Hammer Park on Wednesday night.
The West was declared the winner after Altoona’s Will Craig beat Reading’s Zach Green, 305-275, in a wacky hit-off.
Luigi Rodriguez finished last in the Home Run Derby, but he showed his true power when it mattered most for the West.
Rodriguez hit a solo homer off the Thunder’s Caleb Frare in the eighth inning to give the West a 4-3 lead.
The East had the Reading Fightin Phils to thank for its early 3-0 lead after Jan Hernandez hit a tworun homer in the second and HR Derby champ Deivi Grullon connected on a solo shot in the fourth.
The West tied the game with three runs in the top of the fifth.
Connor Marabell and Ke’Bryan Hayes had RBI singles before Marabell came across with the equalizing run on a wild pitch.
That’s where the score stayed until Richmond’s Rodriguez homered in the eighth. Rodriguez, a 25-year-old Giants prospect, is batting .305 with 10 homers and 35 RBIs this season.
The East threatened in the home eighth when Hartford’s Brendan Rodgers led off with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. After a walk to New Hampshire’s Cavan Biggio, Bowie left-hander Keegan Akin recorded back-to-back strikeout and a pop up to get out of the inning.
East pitchers retired the first 13 West hitters that came to the plate until Taylor Gushue singled with one out in the fifth to spark the three-run rally.
Hilliard made a terrific leaping catch to rob Richmond’s Ryan Howard of extra bases in the first and Rodgers dove to take a hit away from Rodriguez to end the fourth.
Tim Tebow, batting ninth as the designated hitter for the East, went 1-for-4. He doubled in the second inning, ground to short in the fifth, lined to left in the seventh and struck out with a runner on first in the ninth.