Pimental Returns to Lineup, Sparks rout of Crawdads
Redwood City, Calif. – Fresh off two conference victories against the Neptune Beach Pearl on Wednesday, the Legends were looking to keep their momentum alive against another division foe in the Walnut Creek Crawdads. To help keep the good times rolling, they inserted Miguel Pimental into the starting lineup for the first time in a month. Sidelined by a nagging back injury, the catcher/third baseman had been unable to get the green light for a game. Hitting ninth, he provided a major spark for Menlo Park as they topped the Crawdads 14-4 to win their third straight game after dropping four straight. Menlo Park now improves their record to 18-11 this summer and 7-8 in CCL games while the Crawdads are a dismal 5-19 and 4-15 in CCL matches.
Things didn’t get off to a great start for Menlo Park as Jonathan Hernandez was on the mound for the Legends. Making his fourth start of the summer, he got hit hard out of the gate. Mickey Nunes led off with a walk and he scored one batter later on a Kevin Granger double. After Wade Gulden hit a sacrifice fly, the Crawdads were up 2-0 just three batters into the game. Hoping to reset with the bases empty, Hernandez went back to work and allowed two more doubles in the inning, the second by Bear Smith that scored a third run inning and the Legends were quickly in a 3-0 hole.
But respond the Legends would in the bottom of the first, using an inning even bigger than that of the Crawdads top of the first. Justin Jacobs led off with a double, Patrick McColl walked, and RJ Williams singled Jacobs home. After a fielder’s choice got the first out of the inning, Chandler Bengston and Clayton Casey both walked, with the latter walk scoring a run to make it a one-run game. Sean Watkins, hitting seventh in the lineup, lined a single up the middle that would score two more and give the Legends a 4-3 lead, one they would not relinquish. Scott Ota would groundout to second base, but it would score the fifth run of the inning. And then Miguel Pimental came up for his first at bat against live pitching in nearly one month. He would not disappoint, launching a ball high and deep down the left field line that stayed fair and went over the fence for a two-run homerun. That’s not a bad way to hit when you haven’t in about one month. The homerun capped off the scoring as the Legends put a 7 spot on the board in the first inning.
Jonathan Hernandez would settle down the rest of the way and pitch effectively, going six complete innings en route to his second win of the summer. While he did allow nine hits and ultimately four runs, he only allowed one run over his final five innings and was able to pitch his best with men on base. The fourth run he allowed came in the fifth inning, but by that point, the Legends had tacked on few more runs thanks to Bengston two-run homerun that just cleared the fence in right field, and a sacrifice fly from Ota. Hernandez left the game with a 10-3 lead the Legends would cruise through the final innings. Offensively, they tacked on two more in the seventh and eighth after a Nick Brooks two-run double and run-scoring hits from Pimental and McColl. In his return to the lineup, the catcher from the Dominican Republic went 4-4, with a HR, 3 singles, a walk, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Sean Watkins and Kevin Hahn did not allow a hit in the final three innings of the game and Menlo Park coasted to a much-needed victory to continue their CCL climb.
That quest to the top of the CCL standings will be put on hold for Friday’s game, as the Legends welcome in the Rally Factory Rockhounds for a non-league contest starting at 5:00 PM. Join the Legends for some Friday night baseball from Canada College, or catch the live stream on the Legends Radio Network.
