The Osprey took a 4-0 lead in the top of the first before the wheels fell off and the Billings Mustangs cruised to a 14-4 Pioneer League victory in the final game of a four-game set at the home of the North Division's top squad.
Mustangs center fielder David Sappelt paced the home team's 13-hit parade with a pair of doubles and three RBIs as Missoula dipped to 7-21 in the second half, 16-50 overall. Third baseman Carlos Mendez went 3-for-5 and shortstop Miguel Rojas had a triple and drove in three. Matt Stiffler and Michael Konstanty added two RBIs apiece for the Mustangs, who scored six in the second and seven more in the third to put it out of reach.
But those were all the Osprey highlights on the evening as Missoula starting pitcher Brett Reynolds quickly unraveled in the second, allowing six runs on seven hits, highlighted by Sappelt's RBI double and Rojas' two-run triple.
Reynolds was removed in favor of Randy Rodriguez with the bases loaded in the third after allowing a walk, a hit batter and a pair of singles. But Rodriguez only fueled the fire by issuing consecutive run-scoring walks to all three batters he faced. Victor Capellan relieved and ended the frame, but not before Sappelt's two-run double capped the Mustangs' seven-run inning on just three hits.
Reynolds was tagged with the loss and fell to 2-6. In two-plus innings, he surrendered 10 runs - eight earned - on nine hits with a pair of walks and a strikeout as his ERA jumped to 5.43.
Missoula which managed just six hits off a trio of Billings hurlers, was paced by Stone's two hits and a Jake Elmore double.
Castro (4-2) got the win in six innings of work, allowing four runs on five hits and a walk. He struck out three.
Missoula heads home for its final homestand of the season, starting with a four-game set against the Helena Brewers Thursday at 7 p.m.
MISSOULA BILLINGS
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Diaz cf 4 1 1 0 Stiffler rf 5 2 1 2
Elmore ss 3 1 1 0 Buchholz 2b 4 2 2 1
Greene 3b 4 0 0 0 Puckett dh 3 0 0 1
Gomez 1b 2 0 1 1 Konstanty 1b 3 0 1 2
Asencio rf 4 1 1 1 Brown lf 4 2 2 1
Stone lf 4 1 2 2 Sappelt cf 3 2 2 3
Estevez lf 0 0 0 0 Menendez 3b 5 2 3 0
Perez c 3 0 0 0 McMurray c 4 2 0 1
Hilario 2b 4 0 0 0 Rojas ss 4 2 2 3
Navarro dh 4 0 0 0
Totals 32 4 6 4 Totals 35 14 13 14
Missoula 400 000 000 - 4
Billings 067 010 00x - 14
E-Hilario. DP-Missoula 1. LOB-Missoula 5, Billings 8. 2B-Asencio, Elmore, Sappelt 2, Buchholz. 3B-Rojas. HR-Stone SB-Elmore. SF-Gomez, Konstanty, Brown.
IP H R ER BB SO
Missoula
Reynolds L, 2-6 2.0 9 10 8 2 1
Ra. Rodriguez 0.0 0 3 3 3 0
Capellan 3.0 2 1 1 2 0
Reagan 2.0 1 0 0 1 1
Burke 1.0 1 0 0 0 0
Billings
Castro W, 4-2 6.0 5 4 4 1 3
H. Santana 2.0 1 0 0 0 0
Beal 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
HPB-McMurray (by Reynolds), Elmore (by Castro), Gomez (by Castro0. Umpires-Dustin Tibbitts, Ian Fazio. T-2:21. A-2,462.
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