Crawdads Put Pedal to the Metal on Goat-Kart Night
A Crawdads Victory
Saturday was a great night of baseball in the great state of North Carolina. For the Hickory Crawdads, it was a big promotion night. They wore the Goat-Kart jerseys and the first 1,000 fans got a bobble head – it was the promotion of the week, let alone the year. There was a rain delay, but that didn’t stop anybody, as the Goat-Karts stormed their way to the finish line in this game with a massive victory.
Despite the rain, they came out swinging in the first inning. A lead-off walk turned into a double by Paulino Santana that put all the runners in scoring position. Pablo Guerrero had the honors of driving in the first run, and Kaden Carpenter immediately drove in the next one on a sacrifice fly. You love to see it.
If you thought that was fun, the bottom of the second brought more excitement and fireworks. A hit-by-pitch and two singles saw a run score, but then Yolfran Castillo stole second and then Paulino Santana stole home! Talk about getting the crowd into it early!
Castillo continued his monstrous play all night long! He hit a home run in the bottom of the fourth to add a further cushion. The pitching for the Crawdads was thriving, but the GreenJackets’ lack of ability to capitalize with runners in scoring position was a massive difference.
Tovar added yet another home run, giving the Crawdads their third extra base hit of the game. That was the appetizer to what was an electric fifth inning. The Crawdads loaded the bases and capitalized on the other team's mistakes. A Guerrero single deflected off the second baseman and saw all the runners score and the bases clear. They scored the touchdown, extra point, and kicked the field goal.
Things would remain that way. The Crawdads slid into Sunday with a massive 10-1 victory. The pitching took care of business and the bats were raking. Let’s dive into some key notes from the game.
Key Takeaways
Santana has been a hitting machine; especially in this weekly series. He has had a hit in every game this series with two multi-hit games. Tonight he went 2-4 with a double. He has had three extra bass hits this series.
Paulino Santana pro hitting stats (Baseball Reference)
When he hit this series, they came in bunches. He’s had a three-hit game to start this series and a two hit game tonight. Castillo is now hitting .281 with a .787 OPS this season.
Morales pitched very well tonight. 5 innings, one earned run, two walks, four strikeouts. This is now the second start in a row where he’s gone 5+ innings pitched. His ERA is now down to 3.57 for the season.