The Fort McMurray Giants ended their four-game losing streak on Friday night, with a 14-1 drubbing of the Lethbridge Bulls at Shell Place.
The Bulls (8-3) came into the game as the top team in the standings, but it was the Giants (2-9) who looked like the top team in the standings.
After a scoreless top of the first, the theme for the Giants in the bottom of the first was patience at the plate, as Bulls starter Trace Francis threw ball, after ball, after ball.
Then when Francis would locate a fastball in the zone, the Giants were all over the ball as they busted out of the gates with seven runs in the inning, helped by a two-RBI double off the bat of Richard Ortiz.
Francis ended up going just a third of an inning, giving up seven earned runs, off of three hits and six base on balls.
In the bottom of the third, the Giants added three more runs with a RBI groundout from Max Hewitt and a two-RBI single from Keegan Marsden, as the Giants led it 10-0 through just three innings.
Two more scoreless innings for the Bulls led the Giants to the plate in the fifth, and they added four more runs to take a 14-0 lead. Josh Snider sent a shot out into centerfield, for a two-RBI double, and Richard Ortiz once again stepped up and delivered a two-run double.
From there on in, the Giants would not score again, while the Bulls scored one in the top of the sixth as the Fort McMurray Giants finished off a dominating game with three great innings from local product Ryan Dunn.
Before Dunn, Tyler Hodder, also of Fort McMurray got the start and was great. With his six innings of four-hit ball, Hodder improved to 2-0 on the season and has won two straight games on Friday nights dating back to last Friday’s huge 12-5 win over Okotoks.
The Giants and Bulls will resume their four-game series on Saturday with a double-header down at Shell Place. First pitch for game one is set for 2:05 p.m., while game two goes at 7:35 p.m.
Tickets for the game are on sale at Giants Tickets, or at the Shell Place Box Office.
The two teams will wrap up the series on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. You can also listen to Sunday’s game on Country93.3 with Darnell Duff, and Richard Kapach.
