Titans come up short in loss to Miners

Ottawa, ON – The Ottawa Titans (23-9) dropped the second of their three-game series with the Sussex County Miners by a 6-4 final on Wednesday night, extending their losing streak to two games.

Zac Westcott (loss, 5-1) got the ball in the middle game and was in tough early, allowing singles off the bats of Mikey Reynolds and Nilo Rijo. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Martin Figueroa drilled a double to the gap in right-centre, plating the opening run.

The Miners got RBI groundouts from Jawuan Harris and David Maberry, extending the lead to 3-0 after a half-inning.

Following a leadoff walk and a single in the second, Kevin Rolon bounced a ball off the glove of third baseman AJ Wright, which scored another on the E5, making it 4-0.

In the bottom of the second, the Titans loaded the bases for Mitsuki Fukuda, who put the home side on the board, with a sacrifice fly to centre, scoring Brendon Dadson.

The run would be all that the Titans would score off Cody Whitten (ND, 0-0), who went four innings, allowing two hits, walking three, and striking out two in his first career professional start.

Later in the inning, Jackie Urbaez smacked a single to right off Whitten when recent signee Taylor Wright got the wave around third and was thrown out at the plate by Reynolds to end the inning.

Wright was signed earlier in the day after starting the season with the London Majors of the Intercounty Baseball League. The 24-year-old out of North Vancouver was hitting .392 with four homers and 10 RBI in 13 games this season.

Wescott settled in and finished the night going six complete, allowing five runs on a season-high-tying nine hits, walking one, striking out six, and suffering his first loss of the season. From the third through sixth, Westcott allowed only one run on four hits.

After Reynolds extended the lead in the sixth, the Titans made a comeback bid, scoring three runs on two hits. With the bases loaded and nobody out, the Titans chased reliever Jimmy Boyce (win, 2-1) for the lefty James Mulry (save, 1). Taylor Wright and Jason Dicochea cashed in a pair with sac flies, while Fukuda lined a single to left-centre to make it a 5-4 deficit.

The Miners added to the lead with a two-out homer from Harris in the ninth, who took lefty Grant Larson over the wall in left.

Mulry capped off an impressive outing by going four complete out of the bullpen, allowing no runs, and striking out six.

The loss marks the first time the Titans have dropped back-to-back games since May 15-May 17, the series finale to Joliet and opener to Windy City. Also, the defeat snaps a streak of eight straight series wins.

The Ottawa Titans look to salvage the final game of their three-game series against the Sussex County Miners on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. from Ottawa Stadium on Karen Night.

For information on Ottawa Titans’ 2022 season tickets, group outings, and 8-game mini packs, visit the Titans’ official website at www.ottawatitans.com.

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