The Ogden Raptors belted three home runs to beat the befuddled Birds 9-3 and send Missoula to its ninth straight defeat. The O's had won seven of their last 13 at home in Ogren-Allegiance Park, but this Pioneer League game looked too much like their most recent road swing against the Southern Division's two Utah teams.
“We're trying to play good baseball, we're giving it 100 percent,” said Missoula shortstop Reynaldo Navarro, “but I don't know what's happening. We just gotta play better baseball.”
The Osprey lost 10 games in a row earlier this season to set a franchise record for consecutive losses. They could match that mark Friday when they square off with the Raptors at 7:05 p.m. in the second of their four-game series.
Still, it's good to be back in Missoula, say the players.
“When we're in our house, when we're down here (on the field) to play, the fans give us lots of support and we feel like the first team in the league,” said Navarro, whose 4-for-5 effort was one of the team's only bright spots. “To see our fans up there, watching us and enjoying the game, makes us feel good.”
Ogden (11-6) scored four runs off Missoula reliever Bayron Zepeda, including three in the eighth inning, to break a 3-3 tie and take the air out of an already road-weary Osprey squad.
Travis Vetters had a run-scoring double, while Clay Calfe and Kyle Orr each added RBI singles in the eighth. Vetters, who went 3-for-4 on the night, added a two-run home run in Raptors' next at-bat.
Kyle Russell hit a three-run bomb in the fifth to give Ogden a 3-2 lead for half an inning. Pedro Baez also went yard for the Raptors. His solo shot, off Zepeda, put his team ahead 4-3 in the fifth.
Ogden's Jonathan Dutton picked up his league-leading seventh win of the season by scattering eight hits over six innings. Dutton (7-2) struck out three and walked one hitter. Marcel Prado and Luis Garcia made sure Missoula put up goose eggs over the next three innings.
The O's Kyle Greene drove in two runs. He plated Ryne White with a two-out double in the fifth that tied the score 3-3. Greene also had a sacrifice fly in the third and Navarro hit an RBI double to help the Osprey build a 2-0 lead.
Navarro, who was joined by Rafael Hilario and Tyrell Worthington with doubles, upped his batting average to .258 with his four hits. He grounded out to first base in his last at-bat in the ninth.
“It's tough, but when you get the first two base hits of the ballgame you get confidence,” he said. “You start to see the ball better.”
Missoula starter Rafael Quezada left with the score knotted at 3-3. He allowed three runs on four hits. Quezada walked three and struck four and didn't figure into the decision.
OGDEN MISSOULA
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Gordon ss 5 1 1 0 Diaz cf 5 0 1 0
Herrera cf 5 1 1 0 Navarro ss 5 1 4 1
Russell rf 5 2 2 3 White 1b 3 1 0 0
Vetters dh 4 2 3 3 Greene 3b 3 0 1 2
Wallach c 4 0 0 0 Gomez dh 3 0 1 0
Calfee lf 3 1 1 1 Stone lf 4 0 0 0
Baez 3b 3 1 1 1 Davis c 3 0 0 0
Orr 1b 4 0 1 1 Worthgton c 4 0 1 0
Becker 2b 4 1 1 0 Hilario 2b 4 1 1 0
Totals 33 2 8 2 Totals 38 6 14 6
Ogden 000 031 032 - 9
Missoula 002 010 000 - 3
E-Calfee. DP-Missoula 1. LOB-Ogden 5, Missoula 8. 2B-Vetters, Hilario, Navarro, Worthington, Greene. 3B-Russell. HR-Russell, Baez, Vetters. SF-Greene. CS-Navarro.
IP H R ER BB SO
Ogden
Dutton W, 7-2 6.0 8 3 3 1 3
Prado 2.0 1 0 0 1 3
Garcia 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
Missoula
Quezada 5.0 4 3 3 3 4
Zepeda L, 0-3 2.1 4 4 4 0 2
Burke 1.2 3 2 2 0 4
Umpires-Home: Blake Davis; First: Brett Houseman. T-2:24. A-1,911.
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