A’s fifth straight loss is third straight at home

The Hays Larks hit two timely doubles in the eighth inning Wednesday and took the second game of their home-and-home series with the Dodge City A's 4-3. The home loss was the fifth straight for the A's.
    All five of the losses in the A's latest streak have been against Jayhawk League opponents.
    "We're not finishing plays to get out of innings," said A's head coach Phil Stephenson. "And those extra pitches are taking a toll on our pitching staff, either as the inning continues or in the following innings. I'd bet that we lead the league in giving up unearned runs."
    Wednesday's top of the eighth inning was one of the unfinished innings of which Stephenson spoke. With two outs quickly recorded behind the A's 3-2 lead, reliever Kevin Ginorio looked to be speeding through the inning, as he had for his previous two and one-third.
    But Larks shortstop Andrew Heck reached on a throwing error by A's shortstop Travis Meiners that let the inning continue. RBI doubles from pinch hitter Jason Kudlock and center fielder Brandon Eckerle gave the Larks the lead and ultimately the 4-3 win.
    "We battled when we had to and got hits in key situations," said Hays head coach Frank Leo.
    Leo's pitching staff held the A's batters at bay most of the night as well. The A's got their three runs off first- and third-inning home runs from center fielder Cameron Monger and Meiners, respectively.
    The middle innings of the game saw very little offense, and the game started to take the tone of a pitchers' duel as starters Dillon Griffin for the A's and Hays' Casey Hauptman both had solid outings.
    "It was a lower-scoring game, but we had our chances with the wind blowing out," Stephenson said. "I thought we would have a chance to blow the game open in the seventh, but (Chris) Ciesla ends up hitting it right to the shortstop for a double play. That's the way the game goes sometimes."
    Leo added: "[Our pitching staff is] a good staff. We have a great bullpen and that gives us a lot of good options, even when we're down."
    Hays reliever Steven Mazur came in for Hauptman in the sixth inning and blanked the A's for the next three innings. The right-hander recorded five strikeouts in his outing.
    "They (Hays) didn't make any mistakes tonight," Stephenson said.
    The A's will host the Pratt Drillers at 7 p.m. today at Cavalier Field before leaving for a weekend series to face the BeeJays in Liberal.