Miners drop home opener to Kings
May 30—One rough inning cost the West Virginia Miners in their first home game in 21 months.
Miners starter Myles Daniels walked the bases loaded with two out in the second inning, Chase Carney drove them all in with a triple to highlight a five-run surge and Champion City went on to win 9-4 on an unseasonably cool night at Linda K. Epling Stadium.
Daniels' control problems belied what was otherwise a good outing. He gave up a single to Carney to start the game but got a 4-3 double play and then a strikeout to end it.
He did give up a triple to Lukas Galdoni leading off the second, and Galdoni scored on a wild pitch. But Daniels got two consecutive strikeouts and appeared on his way out of the inning when he went ahead 0-2 on Edrick Padilla.
That's when he suddenly lost the strike zone. Daniels (0-1) threw 12 straight balls to put Padilla, Ethan Krizen and Brandon Emery on base. Carney then drove a 1-1 pitch to the right center gap to clear the bases.
Carney later scored on a passed ball and the Kings led 5-2.
"That's the first time I ever got to see him, so I'm just kind of feeling out," Miners manager Tim Epling said of Daniels. "He was kind of streaky and lost his rhythm, so I went out there and talked to him (after Krizen's walk) and let him know he threw a couple of breaking pitches I thought caused him to get out of rhythm. He should have just pounded the fastball."
Daniels' second-inning struggles left him with an abbreviated outing. He left after throwing 73 pitches through three innings and was charged with seven runs — the Kings added two unearned in the third — while allowing four hits. He struck out six and had the three costly walks.
"He walked a lot, but those things happen early in the year," Epling said. "I'm pretty pleased. If you take those two innings out, if you take a look at the whole game itself, I'm very pleased with the way we threw the ball."
The Miners bullpen did a good job of keeping them in the game. Relievers Louis Lipthratt and Jack Jett combined to limit the Kings to six hits over six innings. They struck out six and walked two.
Champion City was able to score a pair of insurance runs of Jett in the ninth, but one was unearned.
The Miners (0-2) took a 2-0 lead in the first on Chris Iazzetta's two-run homer. He blasted Kings starter Nash Mose's 3-2 pitch beyond the flag pole just to the right of the batter's eye in center field.
From there the Miners managed just two more hits, although they did have their chances. They coaxed Kings pitching into 12 walks, but stranded 12 runners on base.
In Thursday's 9-5 season-opening loss at Johnstown, the Miners walked 10 times but left 10 men on base.
"A whole lot," Epling said, emphasizing the 22 runners left on. "That's pretty much a good thing, because our bats will come around. Some of these hitters have been away for a couple of weeks, and so if you take a look, the pitching's been pretty darn good in the league so far. You're looking anywhere from 88-92 (miles per hour). Our guys are throwing 91-93 right now. That's not a bad thing right now. It'll take care of itself."
The Kings (2-1) were playing with a 12-man roster and milked all they could from their pitchers.
Mose (1-0) worked the first five an exited after throwing 87 pitches. He allowed three hits and a pair of runs while striking out three and got away with five walks.
Joe Toth got a four-inning save and gave up just two runs, one earned, despite walking seven batters. He gave up one hit and struck out four.
Toth got a 6-3 double play to end the game on his 94th pitch.
The Miners were playing at Epling Stadium for the first time since the season finale in 2019. The 2020 season was canceled due to the pandemic.
A few hundred fans braved a steady light rain and temperatures near 50 for the home opener and the postgame fireworks show.
The team will finish their series Sunday at 6:35 p.m. Steve Bowley is scheduled to start for the Miners. The Kings will go with Gabe Phipps.
Email: gfauber@register-herald.com
