Catcher Keegan Smith and pitcher Julio Frias were on the same page as Frias had a no-hitter through five innings on Saturday night in a 7-2 win over Mahoning Valley for the first-place Batavia Muckdogs.
Submitted photo and press release:
Julio Frias looked like he might take the hard-luck loss of the season for the Batavia Muckdogs. The 21-year-old Miami Marlins signing was tossing a no-hitter through five innings Saturday night, but the Muckdogs trailed, 2-0.
With the team trailing, 2-1 and two outs and two strikes, Andrew Turner belted a three-RBI double to give Batavia the lead. The hits kept coming with two outs, and after a seven-run inning, that was all the pitching staff needed.
The Muckdogs improved to 22-12 with a 7-2 win over the Mahoning Valley Scrapper. Batavia is in first place of the New York-Penn League Pinckney Division.
Turner, a 39th-round draft pick of the parent-club Miami Marlins in 2018 out of Long Island University, finished 3-for-4 with a run, but his big hit was the bases-clearing hit to the right-center fence.
"I was just trying to get something to hit, something I could put in play and get it up the middle," Turner said. "We didn't need three runs, we needed one or two, but I was fortunate to get it up the middle and bring the runs in."
Frias improved to 3-1 throwing 5.2 innings with eight strikeouts and gave up just one hit and walked three. He now has a 2.02 ERA.
"With a guy like Frias on the mound, he is going to hold us there for a long time, he is going to keep throwing up zeros," Turner said. "We know it's going to take one inning, we have so many good guys the lineup, if he could just hold us there and we knew he would."
With a righty coming up, Manager Tom Lawless went to the pen with two outs and pitcher Joey Steele came in and got the Muckdogs out of a jam and kept his 0.00 ERA intact.
From there, M.D. Johnson struck out three batters in the seventh and gave up one hit. Brock Love, a 34th round Marlins pick out of the University of Alabama, threw the final two innings and was perfect, striking out three and still has a 0.00 ERA in four innings and three appearances.
At the plate, J.D. Orr stole his 17th base of the season and went 2-for-4 with a RBI and unto up his average to .363 while Ronal Reynoso was 2-for-4 with a RBI double and run. Milton Smith II singled in a run, stole his ninth base of the season and scored.
It was Wilmot Cancer Institute of Batavia's Cancer Survivors Night and the crowd impressed Turner.
"It's unbelievable. It's the whole reason you play. When you are playing for a team like this, it makes coming to the ball park fun every day," Turner said. "We're 40 games in, we've been here since spring training in February and March, we have a winning ball club, and the fans coming out.
"The fans are excited every day and it makes you want to be here and play that much harder for not only all these fans coming out, but also the guys around you. It's been great."
The Muckdogs have two more home games in this series.
Today (July 21) is a 5:05 p.m. start with autograph alley (players signing autographs around 4 p.m. or 4:20 p.m.), kids run the bases and it's a kids' day for the Muckpups.
Monday is a special 11:05 a.m. start with food and ticket specials. It is also summer camp and splash day.
Tickets are available at muckdogs.com or stop by the Dwyer Stadium Ticket office between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. during the week. The number is 585-483-3647.
