In his EWL debut, Christian shut out the struggling Ham Slams en route to a 15-0 win.
The Ham Slams started their season with the majority of their everyday roster unavailable for play in week 1, and Eastbound & Dahn took full advantage, delivering 15 unanswered runs in a runaway victory.
Christian, one of the EWL’s rookie players in 2014, started on the mound for Eastbound & Dahn. He struck out the first batter he faced in his career, Josh of the Ham Slams, and retired Riley to end the top of the first.
Eastbound & Dahn got on the board early, capitalizing on countless fielding errors by the Ham Slams. The Slams started two rookies and had only Charlie from their regular roster on the field. Christian singled to lead off the bottom of the first, and moved to second when Hartley flew out for the first out of the inning. Eastbound followed with three consecutive doubles by Ivan, Christian, and Hartley, making the score 3-0. Charlie got Ivan to ground out to end the inning.
The Ham Slams, missing their core players, had difficulty fielding and made many errors leading to Eastbound & Dahn runs
Christian cruised through the top of the second, and Eastbound pulled away for good in the bottom half of the inning. Eastbound scored ten runs in the bottom half of the inning, with each of their players netting at least three hits. Christian had an inside the park homer while scoring three runs in the inning, Ivan singled three times and scored three runs, and Hartley had a double, a triple, and two bombs in the inning alone, as Eastbound led 13-0 after two innings.
Hartley tied EWL single-game records for doubles and RBI in an offensive explosion for Eastbound & Dahn
The Ham Slams continued to struggle at the plate in the top of the third, and were held scoreless by Christian. Eastbound scored in the bottom of the third, but the runs were negated following the game due to hitting out of order. The fourth inning was quite similar, as the Ham Slams were unable to score, although a Riley single did break up the no-hit bid by Christian. Eastbound scored another run in the bottom of the fourth, but it was also negated by batting out of order.
Riley had one of two hits for the Ham Slams in their first game of 2014
Christian continued to tear through Ham Slams hitters in the top of the fifth, and Eastbound piled on two more runs in the bottom of the inning. Christian and Ivan had two hits each, and Hartley had three, including two doubles, as Eastbound led 15-0 after five.
Feeling the fatigue in his first career start, Christian gave way to Hartley from the bullpen in the top of the sixth. In a non-save opportunity, Hartley recorded the final two outs, giving Eastbound & Dahn the win.
The opening game beatdown moved Eastbound & Dahn to 1-0 on the year, while the Ham Slams dropped to 0-1.
W: Christian (1-0)
L: Charlie (0-1)
Game Notes:
– In his career debut on the mound, Christian pitched 5 innings, allowing no earned runs and striking out 3. He also went 6-for-11 at the plate with a double, a homer, and 2 RBI.
– Charlie, one of the best pitchers in 2013, wasn’t helped by his defense. He gave up a career high 15 runs on 22 hits in the complete game loss.
– Hartley set the pace for Eastbound, going 8-for-10 with 4 doubles, tying a single-game record, 2 homers, 9 RBI, also tying a single-game record, and 6 put outs.
– Ivan held his own as well, going 8-for-10 with 4 RBI, and tied a single-game record with 6 singles.
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