LAREDO, Texas — Jon Gaston homered again and Mitch Canham had a big night at the plate but the Laredo Lemurs (5-7) pulled away from the Saltdogs (4-8) in a 9-5 victory in front of 1,420 fans at Uni-Trade Stadium Tuesday night.
Gaston’s long ball to center, his third of the year, coupled with Jeremy Hamilton’s two-out RBI single for the Saltdogs tied the game at 5-5 in the fifth.
Laredo went on to score two unearned runs on two Lincoln errors in the sixth, then two insurance runs in the eighth on a Juan Silverio two-out double off the left field wall.
Jesse Smith (1-1) pitched 5 2/3-plus innings, surrendering seven runs, five earned, on 11 hits with four walks and two strikeouts to take the loss. Henry Garcia (1-1) pitched 1/3 of an inning scoreless to grab the win in relief. John Brebbia work 1 1/3 perfect innings with three strikeouts to earn the save.
Canham finished the night 3-for-3 with a triple, stolen base and two RBI. C.J. Ziegler and Eddie Young had two-hit games for the ‘Dogs.
Laredo has scored 21 runs on 31 hits and has stranded 25 runners on base in the first two games of the series. Lincoln has scored 30 runs on 55 hits over the first five games of their Texas road trip but nothing to show.
The Saltdogs have now lost six straight games, and look to avoid the series sweep Wednesday night at 7:35 p.m. LHP Kevin McGovern (1-0, 2.77) will pitch for Lincoln. Radio coverage begins at 7:05 p.m. on KFOR 1240.
Lincoln returns home June 5 with a Firework Friday following the 7:05 p.m. opener against Wichita. Tickets are available atwww.saltdogs.com.