Rome Breaks Tie in the Ninth to Take Game Three 

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Entering Thursday, the Spartanburgers needed a win and a Greenville loss at Winston-Salem to clinch a playoff spot. Hub City got neither result. The Drive were rained out, and the Spartanburgers (33-30, 64-64) surrendered two unearned runs in the ninth to fall 3-1 to the Emperors (27-33, 56-69) in game three.

The Spartanburgers handed the baseball to Rangers’ No. 8 prospect Caden Scarborough, and he responded with four scoreless frames. The right-hander gave up back-to-back singles with two outs in the first but forced a groundout to finish the inning. Scarborough stranded runners aboard in the second and third as well, then struck out two in his final inning.

Rome starter Herick Hernandez also stranded four runnners on base through the first four innings. The southpaw bounced back from two straight walks to start the fourth, rolling a double play to end the inning.

The Emperors broke the deadlock in the top of the fifth. Brooks Fowler (L, 2-1) entered for Scarborough and got two comfortable outs, but Colby Jones bounced a grounder off the pitcher to reach base, stole second and scored on a line drive to center from Cody Miller.

Hernandez ventured into the bottom of the sixth, and the inning’s first batter, Maxton Martin, greeted Hernandez with a solo blast to right-center. Martin came off the bench to replace Paxton Kling due to injury in the top of the sixth and his second High-A homer tied the game at 1-1. Hernandez retired the next three in order to wrap up his night.

Fowler managed scoreless seventh and eighth innings, as did Rob Griswold (W, 3-3) out of Rome’s bullpen. In the ninth, Fowler walked Keshawn Ogans, then Hub City went to the bullpen. Jesus Gamez was the 'Burgers replacement; Cooper McMurray blistered a fly ball to center which was dropped. Ogans came around to score from first as McMurray settled on second. McMurray advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly from Mac Guscette.

Trailing 3-1, Hub City got multiple runners on base in the bottom of the ninth but couldn’t manage a run against Justin Long (S, 1).

On Friday, the Spartanburgers send left-hander Dalton Pence (1-2, 1.28 ERA) to the hill against the Emperors. Rome responds with right-hander Garrett Baumann (5-9, 3.58 ERA). First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m. ET. The Spartanburgers will again need a win and a Greenville loss to clinch a playoff spot.

About the Hub City Spartanburgers

The Hub City Spartanburgers are in their inaugural season as the High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. For more information on the Spartanburgers, visit milb.com/hub-city. For information about tickets to any of Hub City’s 66 home games, call 864-658-4206 or email: [email protected] For media inquiries, email: [email protected]. Follow along with the Spartanburgers on social media.