Rockets’ offense quieted

The Rockets got off to a nice start against the Chiefs.

A trio of errors and a pair of extra-base-hits helped the Rockets to an early 3-1 lead.

All they needed to do was wait for a big offensive inning so they could put Muncie away.

They waited and waited for that inning, but it never came.

The lack of offense got to the Portland Rockets, as they fell to the Muncie Chiefs 7-3 on Wednesday at Runkle-Miller Field.

The two teams previously met June 27 when the Rockets walked away with a 7-4 victory. With Wednesday’s loss and June 13 being rained out, the Rockets split the series with the Chiefs this season.

“The offense kind of just went stagnant,” manager Randy Miller said. “I think we can do better. … I just thought we could hit our way out of any trouble but that just didn’t work today.”

Over half of the Rockets’ (15-11) baserunners reached in the first three innings.

Dakota Durick and Zach Tanner both reached base on errors. Joel Kennedy then attacked the first pitch that he sent over Gavin Lash’s head in center field to  score both runners.

Two batters drew walks in the second inning, but were left stranded.

Jared Holley led off the third inning with a single that got past Lash, allowing him to run around to third base. Tanner immediately blasted a double to center to push Holley home. Kennedy again reached base, this time on an error by Dax Dudley at third.

Gavin Noble pitched those first three innings before Gaise Winchester came in to pitch the fourth through ninth innings. 

Winchester would only allow three more runners – only one was a hit coming from Crosby Heniser – while fanning eight Rocket batters.

“We were just a little shaky on defense in that first inning but I thought after that we did a good job of keeping the ball in front of us and making plays,” Chiefs manager Ken Zvokel said. “We had good pitching tonight so that helped.”

Despite the poor offensive performance, the Rockets got some strong innings out of starting pitcher Sam Dunlavy and Tyler Reynolds.

The Chiefs were able to score off of Dunlavy in the first inning after Daniel Blevins reached base on an infield single and scored on Jackson Furnish’s triple. After that, Dunlavy locked Muncie down, giving up three more hits in the next four innings without allowing a run to score.

“Everything was working,” Dunlavy said. “I was hitting my spots and all my stuff was moving so I just felt good today.”

Reynolds didn’t get nearly as much work in, but came up huge to get the Rockets out of a jam. 

In the top of the seventh, Peyton Smith had already given up the tying run and walked two batters before Miller gave the ball to Reynolds.

He induced a fielder’s choice on the first pitch that rolled to first base where Kennedy threw the ball to second base for the out. Reynolds followed up with a four-pitch strikeout to get out of the inning with only five pitches thrown.

The Chiefs got the better of Portland by chipping away in the final four innings to score six runs via small ball.

Blevins worked a walk from Smith in the sixth before Furnish drove him in to chip away at the lead. Smith also gave up the tying run when Dudley hit a single and marched around the bases on a stolen base, throwing error and sacrifice fly.

Trevor Sheets also struggled to keep the Chiefs quiet offensively. He struck out Blevins to begin the eighth but Gavin Walter hit an infield-single and stole second so that Furnish’s double would drive him in. Holley was able to cut off the bleeding in the inning by executing a SportsCenter-highlight-diving catch to save a run and allow another runner into scoring position.

“I was just thinking to myself ‘that is staying up for a minute. I may be able to get to it,’” Holley said. “I was ready to just full on dive for it. A full on sprint is all you can do.”

Sheets would also surrender two more runs in the ninth when he walked a pair before giving up a single and a double. He suffered the loss after giving up four runs over the two innings.

Furnish finished as the top hitter between the two teams, tallying three hits including a double and a triple while also driving in three runs.

BOX SCORE

Portland Rockets

vs. Muncie Chiefs

Muncie Chiefs

    ab    r    h    bi

Blevins eh    3    2    1    0

Walter rf    5    1    2    0

Furnish cf    4    1    3    2

Grimm eh    3    0    0    0

Lash ss    4    0    1    0

Dudley 3b    2    0    1    0

   McClellan ph    2    1    1    0

Frnch c    2    0    1    1

GNoble p    1    0    0    0

   Roach ph    1    1    0    0

Brinson 1b    2    1    1    0

Carrow 2b    4    0    2    1

CNoble lf    3    0    0    0

   Flotz ph    1    0    0    0    

Totals    37    7    13    4

Rockets (15-11)

    ab    r    h    bi

Durick lf    4    1    0    0

Holley cf    3    1    1    0

Tanner ss    3    1    1    1

   McBride 2b    1    0    0    0

Kennedy 1b    4    0    1    2

Caldwell 3b    4    0    0    0

Lichttenstiger eh    4    0    0    0

Smith dh    2    0    0    0

   Ridgeway ph    2    0    0    0

Gleason c    3    0    0    0

Heniser rf    1    0    1    0

Faulkner 2b    2    0    0    0    

Totals    33    3    4    3

Chiefs    100 001     122 — 7

Rockets    201 000     000 — 3

LOB — Rockets 7, Chiefs 11. 2B — Rockets 2 (Tanner, Kennedy), Chiefs 2 (Furnish, Carrow). 3B — Chiefs (Furnish). SB — Rockets 1 (Heniser), Chiefs 2 (Walter, McClellan).

    IP    H    R    ER    BB    SO

Chiefs

GNoble    3    3    3    1    2    2

Wnchstr W    6    1    0    0    2    8

Rockets

Dunlavy    5    5    1    1    1    5

Smith    1.1    3    2    2    3    3

Reynolds    0.2    0    0    0    0    1

Sheets L    2    5    4    3    2    1