Miners drop the final game of the three-game series versus the New Jersey Jackals by the final score of 11-5 at Skylands Stadium Sunday afternoon.
The Miners went to Christian Colmery for his fourth start of the season and of his professional career. Colmery struggled versus a stacked Jackals lineup, allowing five runs on five hits while walking five in four innings of work.
The Miners offensively played their part for the third straight game. Edwin Mateo drove in two runs while Hunter D’Amato, Kiko Romero and Sandro Gaston added two hits each.
Miners pitching was not up to the task Sunday afternoon. Miners bullpen allowed six earned runs in five innings. John Perozzi was the only pitcher to record a scoreless frame despite walking two, and Zack Austin struck out the side in the ninth, working around a pair of walks and hits with one run allowed. Miners staff walked 14 batters, the largest number since May 9th this year.
The game’s importance at this point in the season still was not detrimental, however; the Miners face a big uphill battle. After Sunday’s defeat, Sussex County falls back to four games back of first place but is still three games back of the New York Boulders.
The Miners hoped to get as close to New York and New Jersey as they have, but the red-hot Quebec Capitales, who have won nine of their last ten games, are six games ahead. The Miners head to Quebec City for the final time in the regular season for the weekday portion of the home-and-home series.
Tyler Thornton returns to the Miners via a trade with Brockton and looks to set the tone with a veteran presence on the mound Tuesday evening. Thornton, the Miners’ all-time leader in innings pitched and games started, is also top 5 in batters faced and strikeouts.
Catch all the action on the road this week on the Miners broadcast network, on the Frontier League Network powered by HTN, or listen free on mixlr.com/scminers.
Above: Miners outfielder Edwin Mateo went 1-for-4 with two RBI (photo by Phil Hoops)