AVON — The Crushers came to All Pro Freight Stadium with their playoff hopes hanging by a thread, thanks to a 2-6 road trip last week.

That thread may have been severed Tuesday night in a 3-2 loss to the expansion Normal CornBelters that drew 3,639 fans.

Lake Erie (37-42) was no-hit through four innings by Normal starter Brett Lester (7-7) and was blanked by reliever Donald Furrow (two saves, 0.96 ERA) for the final three innings after it cut a 3-0 deficit to one run after the sixth.

The Crushers are 9½ games behind East Division-leading Windy City and 4½ games behind third-place Traverse City with only 17 games remaining in the regular season.

Does Crushers manager John Massarelli sense any frustration mounting from his team?

“I don’t know,” he said. “I can’t answer that question.”

Is he frustrated?

“I’d like to see us get more wins,” he said.

Furrow retired nine of the 11 batters he faced. His only baserunners allowed were on a two-base error on a grounder hit by Crushers newcomer Jake Krause in the seventh and a full-count, two-out walk issued to Arden McWilliams in the ninth.

After walking McWilliams, Furrow came back to strike out pinch hitter Casey McGrew on three pitches to end the game.

Crushers pitcher Josh Roberts (7-5) pitched well, but made a few mistakes in the third and fourth innings that allowed the CornBelters (36-45) to score their three runs.

Ground-rule doubles by No. 9 hitter Brad Augustin and Ben Petralli led to Augustin scoring Normal’s first run in the third, and Petralli scored on an RBI single to left by Daniel Cox to make it 2-0.

In the fourth, a double down the right-field line by Asif Shah with one out led to a two-out RBI single to right by Mike Dufek to make it 3-0, Belters. Two of their three runs were scored on two-out hits.

A one-out single by McWilliams in the fifth snapped Lester’s no-hit bid, and he scored two batters later on a two-out RBI single up the middle by Raphael Turner to cut the deficit to 3-1.

In the sixth, Andrew Davis led off the inning by smashing a 1-1 pitch off the bottom of the scoreboard in right field for a solo home run — his 10th of the season — to cut the lead to 3-2.

Solid relief outings by Esmelvin Jimenez and Jeff Cinadr (two scoreless innings apiece) kept the Normal hitters at bay, leaving the door open for a potential rally. However, it never came.

“(Lester) made a couple of good pitches when we had runners in scoring position,” Massarelli said. “He threw his breaking ball behind in the count pretty well, and he had a pretty good angle to his fastball.

“Other than the Gateway series (in early June), our pitching’s been strong all year, both starters and relievers. Our pitching gives us shots all the time. We always have an opportunity to win. We’ve just got to get that big hit when we need it, and we haven’t done that.”

Roster moves

The Crushers signed rookie infielder Jake Krause, who was recently released from Fargo-Moorhead of the Northern League and placed pitcher Cristobal Mata on the seven-day injured list. Krause, who started at second base and batted eighth Tuesday game, batted .290 with eight RBIs and three steals for Fargo in 34 games this season.

Regular second baseman Drew Saylor is limited by a torn MCL and partially torn meniscus in his knee.

The Crushers also released infielder Adam Amar, who was signed Aug. 5. In seven games, Amar batted .111 (2-for-18) with no home runs and two RBIs. Outfielder Trae Gore was activated from the seven-day injured list to take Amar’s place.

Coming up

Len Barker, the former Indians pitcher famous for throwing a perfect game during the 1981 season, and Joe Tait, the Hall of Fame Cavaliers’ radio play-by-play voice, will make back-to-back appearances during Crushers games vs. Washington at The Freight in early September.

Tait will be signing autographs and posing for pictures during the Sept. 1 game, while Barker will be signing autographs and posing for pictures during the Sept. 2 game.

Contact Dan Gilles at 329-7135 or dangilles73@gmail.com.

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---