The Charleston Dirty Birds jumped out to a big early lead, lost it, then reclaimed it with a three-run bottom of the eighth to defeat the Gastonia Honey Hunters 7-5 Tuesday night at Appalachian Power Park.
Charleston (18-23) went ahead to stay when Alfredo Gonzalez cracked a two-run home run to give the Dirty Birds a 6-5 lead, then held on in the opener of a six-game home stand. It was their third win in the last four games. Gastonia fell to 27-14.
The Dirty Birds jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a two-run double by Juan Carlos Perez in the bottom of the first, then upped their advantage to 4-0 in the third on a two-run home run by Engel Beltre, his fourth of the season.
Meanwhile, Charleston starter Jordan Stephens was nearly unhittable, retiring the first 10 batters he faced before a one-out single in the top of the fourth by Gastonia’s Herlis Rodriguez. That was the only hit allowed by Stephens, who walked two and struck out four in six innings.
The Honey Hunters, though, got to the Dirty Birds’ bullpen with a run off Kevin Siegrist in the top of the seventh and took the lead with four runs in the top of the eighth against Francisco Carrillo. The big blow was a three-run double by Rayder Ascanio, who scored on the play on a throwing error by Carrillo, allowing Gastonia to take a 5-4 lead.
Charleston’s Mitchell Osnowicz (1-1) got the final out of the inning and wound up picking up the win when Gonzalez’s home run put the Dirty Birds back on top in the bottom of the eighth.
Tyler Wilson pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his sixth save for the Dirty Birds. Anfernee Seymour, Beltre and Nick Longhi each had two hits for Charleston.
Ascanio led Gastonia, going 2 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs.
Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Wednesday.
