Slammers' Renshaw Throws Second Straight Complete Game

Jake Renshaw (6-3) tossed his second straight complete game and the Joliet Slammers (29-22) tallied 16 hits on their way to an 8-1 victory over the Windy City ThunderBolts (27-25) Monday.

The game started out as a pitcher’s duel as Renshaw tossed four no-hit innings to begin the game and his counterpart Bryant Cotton (4-4) was up to the task as well as he worked around a couple of jams to keep the game scoreless.

It was Windy City who got on the board first as they took a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning.

With one out, Chris Wade singled on a ball deep in the hole at short that just snuck under Brad Netzel’s glove. Billy Nowlin followed with a single of his own. Then with two away Larry Pempek drew a walk to load the bases. That’s when Brandon Anderson hit a grounder up the middle that Hector Pellot was able to knock down with his glove.

The ball deflected to Netzel who caught Nowlin taking a wide turn at third base. He fired home and Trey Manz chased Nowlin back to third where Sean Estand made the tag for the last out of the inning.

The single did score the lead runner Wade from third though to give the ThunderBolts the lead.

That was all they would get off Renshaw though and the Slammers took control of the game in the sixth.

Erik Lis got things started against Cotton with a bloop single to left. Nowlin somehow let the ball slip under his glove and Lis took advantage of the error by advancing to second.

After David Fox bunted Lis to third, Kyle Maunus smacked a double off the base of the wall in center to tie the game. They weren’t done though as Brad Netzel singled to left. Maunus couldn’t advance on the play, but that situation was soon remedied when Maunus and Netzel pulled off a double steal.

With two outs, and two in scoring position, Estand came up huge with a two-RBI single and it was 3-1 Joliet.

They’d exploit Windy City’s bullpen to get some insurance in the eighth and ninth innings. In the eighth, Netzel walked with one away. Then with two outs Estand singled Netzel to third. Manz, who had struck out all three times entering the at bat, singled in Netzel to extend the Slammers’ lead to 4-1.

The game became a laugher in the ninth inning as Greg Lane really struggled for Windy City. Pellot singled down the left field line to start the frame.

A Lis single and a Fox walk loaded the bases. Maunus hit into a fielder’s choice, but a run scored and it was 5-1 Joliet. After Netzel walked to reload the bases, Bobby Leeper lined a ball off the bag at third to score two more runs. They’d tack on another run when Josh Flores singled home Netzel later in the inning.

This was all more than enough run support for Renshaw, who threw the first complete game in team history in his previous outing. He was even more impressive going the distance Monday as he surrendered only four hits and one run, walking three and striking out five to earn his team-leading sixth win of the year.

With the win the Slammers match their season-high of seven games over .500 and win their fifth straight road game.