Osprey Preview: Game #76
Who: Missoula Osprey (37–38, 18–19) @ Great Falls Voyagers (34–41, 19–18)
Where: Centene Stadium — Great Falls, MT
When: 7:00 P.M. (MT) first pitch
How To Listen: ESPN 102.9 FM | MiLB First Pitch App| MiLB.com
THE MATCHUP
The Osprey and Voyagers conclude their four-game series on Saturday, finishing out their regular-season schedules. The Osprey have won 3 of 7 games against the Voyagers in Great Falls, but have lost last night. From July 5 to the current date, the Osprey have won 7 of the last 10 meetings between the two teams, losing by the same score of 10–8 each of the last two nights.
LAST NIGHT
The Osprey jumped to an early lead in the first inning, scoring on a ground ball double by Juan Araujo that plated Eddie Hernandez from second. The double was the first of two hits for Araujo. In the bottom half of the inning, the Voyagers responded with a pair of runs off Osprey starting pitcher Jimmy Johnson, sinking Missoula to an early one-run deficit. The Voyagers then added an individual run in the second and three more tallies in the third to take a 6–1 advantage over the Osprey, knocking Johnson from the game without recording in out in the third inning.
En route to taking his second loss of the season, Johnson pitched two-plus innings, surrendering five runs (all earned) on six hits and a season-high four walks, while striking out one. The last of the runs charged to Johnson scored after he had exited the ballgame. Reliever Yeison Santana allowed the only runner he inherited to score, completing Johnson’s stat line after his exit.
In the top of the fourth, Terence Connelly roped a one-out triple into the right field corner before scoring on a groundout by Brandon Leyton. With two men out in the inning, Ernie De La Trinidadstroked his fifth home run of the season, a solo blast, to pull Missoula within 6–3.
One inning later, however, the Voyagers rallied for three additional runs against Santana to widen their lead to six runs, opening a similarly commanding advantage to that of Thursday night in Missoula. In three innings of work, Santana was charged with four runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk, while striking out three.
Following a quiet sixth from both teams, the Osprey surged for four runs in the top of the seventh, leveraging back-to-back errors into two runs. Later in the inning, the Osprey kickstarted their rally with two out and the bases empty thanks to consecutive singles from Gavin Stupienski and Brandon Leyton, followed by a two-run triple from William Gorman to pull Missoula within 9–7. Leyton added a solo home run in the eighth to narrow the difference to just one, but the Voyagers plated an insurance tally in the eighth on consecutive doubles to widen the score to its final margin of 10–8.
TONIGHT
The Osprey conclude the regular season with a Saturday night game in Great Falls against the Voyagers. With the playoff matchup set in stone on Friday night, Saturday’s regular-season finale holds little weight beyond developmental and experiential purposes. Losers of their last two, the Osprey have a chance to pull even at the .500 mark and become the first team in franchise history to win at least a share of the division title in both halves.
In search of the historic victory, the Osprey will hand the ball to right-hander Edgar Martinez for his third head-to-head start against the Voyagers this season. With each of his last two outings coming against Great Falls, Martinez has gone 1–0 with a 3.27 ERA in 11.0 innings of work. His last outing, an Osprey victory over Great Falls, was his best of the season, as the righty lasted 6.0 innings and held Great Falls to just 1 run.
NOTES & NUMBERS ON MARTINEZ
- 1st Inning: 6.0 IP, 9.00 ERA, 3K, 2BB
- 2nd & 3rd Innings: 12.0 IP, 2.25 ERA, 6K, 1BB
- 4th Inning: 6.1 IP, 8.53 ERA, 4K, 2BB
- 5th Inning: 6.0 IP, 1.50 ERA, 5K, 3BB
Freshly into the playoffs, Great Falls plans to use righty Lincoln Henzman as their starter on Saturday. The Kentucky native has not pitched against Missoula this season, but owns an 0–2 record in conjunction with a 4.18 ERA overall. Henzman has not allowed an earned run in either of his las two appearances (both in relief) spanning 6.1 innings.
LINEUP
- Gabriel Maciel — LF
- Eduardo Diaz — CF
- Keshawn Lynch — SS
- Andy Yerzy — DH
- Juan Araujo — RF
- Dominic Miroglio — C
- Terence Connelly — 1B
- Jose Caballero — 2B
- Joel Novas — 3B
- P — Edgar Martinez (RHP)
