AVON — Traverse City’s Brett Bostelman came into Monday night’s game with a Frontier League-leading 1.55 ERA.
Then he ran into Lake Erie’s league-leading offense, which is scoring 7.1 runs a game.
Bostelman was battered and bruised before being mercifully lifted two batters into the fourth. There was still Joy in Mudville for the Beach Bums — Sean Joy, that is.
Joy (3-0) held the Crushers at bay with four scoreless innings of relief and Traverse City held on for a 6-4 victory in front of 2,372 fans at All Pro Freight Stadium.
“You get to their ace like that, you like your chances,” Crushers manager John Massarelli said. “But Joy did a nice job coming in relief. He shut us down.”
The Crushers (20-16) tried to muster a two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth. Gordon Gronkowski reached on an infield error and Jesse Gibson came in to run for him. Gibson stole second and Tim Binkoski drew a four-pitch walk. However, Beach Bums closer Jeff Williams rallied to strike out Eddie Tisdale to end the game and earn his ninth save.
The big bopper for the Beach Bums (18-18) was catcher Robby Alcombrack, a former Indians farmhand. Alcombrack went 3-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored and two RBIs.
Crushers starter Josh Faiola (1-5) continued to struggle. He only lasted three innings, giving up six hits, five runs (all earned), two walks and one strikeout.
“He struggled,” Massarelli said. “He’ll tell you that. He’s just got to figure it out. He will. He works hard. He’s a good kid. He comes to work every day. He’s in a little bit of a rut, but I’m confident that he’ll eventually figure it out.”
Joy held the Crushers to just three hits over his four shutout innings with one walk and one strikeout. Bostelman was tagged for four runs (all earned) on five hits with four walks and no strikeouts in three innings.
“We definitely like to get to the bullpen as quick as we can,” said the Crushers’ Andrew Davis, who went
1-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs. “We like to get the starters out because that’s the better pitchers they have. But after that, we kind of struggled with that lefty (Joy). Coming into tonight, he had six walks and 22 strikeouts. He’s probably one of the better relievers in the league. I know I struggled with him.”
The Crushers used some two-out mojo in the bottom of the second inning to draw first blood. Binkoski beat out an infield single, followed by a four-pitch walk drawn by Tisdale, a rookie.
On Bostelman’s first pitch to Wayne Bond, the ball squirted away from Alcombrack for a passed ball. Binkoski reached third, but Tisdale hesitated running to second and was caught in a rundown.
While Tisdale was playing pickle in the middle, Binkoski broke for home. The throw to the plate was not in time, and not only did Binkoski score, but Tisdale was safe at second.
Bostelman ended up walking Bond, but retired Nick Maragas on a grounder to short to end the inning.
However, that lead was short-lived. Faiola’s first pitch in the third was drilled over the fence down the left-field line by Alcombrack, and that started a nine-batter, five-hit, four-run inning. The big hit was a three-run blast to right by John Alonso, making it 4-1.
“I felt good the first couple of innings,” Faiola said. “I just kind of got myself in a little bit of a jam. I got a pitch up, and he got a hold of it for a three-run home run. That’s what happens.”
The Crushers used the long ball — two of them — to knot the score in the bottom of the fourth. First, Davis blasted a two-run homer to deep right. Then, one batter later, Gronkowski crushed one over the scoreboard in right field for a solo homer to tie it at 4.
“It wasn’t a bad performance for us,” Gronkowski said. “We put another zero in the error category and our defense was really strong. As long as we keep doing that, we’re going to win these close ballgames. It just didn’t happen tonight, but it will in the long run.”
Contact Dan Gilles at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

TONIGHT

WHO: Lake Erie Crushers at Midwest Sliders (doubleheader)
TIME: 6:05, first game
WHERE: Oestrike Stadium, Waterford, Mich.
WEBCAST: Live on www.lakeeriecrushers.com

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