Offense lets Crushers down again in loss to Miners

AVON — Good pitching and defense are normally ingredients for winning baseball, but they just weren't enough for Lake Erie on Tuesday night at Mercy Health Stadium. The Crushers simply couldn't score enough runs, losing 5-1 to Sussex County in spite of another good outing from Angelo Baez. The loss dropped the Crushers to 9-13. They're tied with Windy City for last place in the West Division of the Frontier League, while the Miners (14-6) lead the East Division. Baez threw seven strong innings before a ground-rule double by Oraj Anu and a run-scoring single from Willie Escala ended his evening with a hard-luck loss. To that point, Baez had allowed just three hits, while striking out six and walking none. His earned run average went from a minuscule 0.75 to 1.44. "He did great again," Crushers manager Jared Lemieux said. "That's all you can ask for. We didn't get the runs we needed for him." Reliever J.D. Hammer gave up a bunt single, a walk, an error on a ground ball and another single to complete the damage. Through three innings, Baez was perfect, striking out three. Huge defensive plays were turned in behind him by center fielder Sean Cheely, third baseman Brendon Dadson and right fielder Jack Harris to keep the perfection intact. Even when Baez was touched for two hits to lead off the Miners' fourth inning, he wiggled out of that situation unscathed thanks to another fine play by Cheely and a fly ball and groundout. He did give up a run in the fifth on Jawuan Harri singles, a stolen base, a deep fly to center and Abraham Mow's sacrifice fly but Lake Erie tied it in the bottom of the sixth on a double by Jarrod Watkins, a walk, a throwing error and a fielder's choice RBI by Jiandido Tromp. That, however, was the extent of the offensive production. The Crushers were held to five hits by Miners starter Mark Moclair and reliever Ronnie Voacolo. "These are professional hitters," Lemieux said of his team. "We're going to figure it out. It's a matter of time. The guys are competing. It's not from a lack of effort. We're going to keep riding it. We're playing good defense and I think we're pitching the ball well. The bats will come around." Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or at timothygeb@msn.com.