BEACH BUMS BANG UP CRUSHERS

7/20/2010 - AVON, OH – The Traverse City Beach Bums scored six runs after the fifth inning to erase an early deficit and defeat the Lake Erie Crushers 6-1. The win pulled the Beach Bums to within one game of Lake Erie in the standings. Michael Moore in a John Russell file photo

Lake Erie got on the board in the bottom of the first inning as Andrew Davis singled home Raphael Turner for a 1-0 lead. The Crushers would eventually load the bases with nobody out, but Michael Moore got out of the jam with a strikeout against Drew Saylor before getting Joel Collins to ground into a double play.

For quite some time, that was the only offense in the game as Crushers starter Phil Rummel was masterful early on, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth. Fortunately for the Beach Bums, Michael Moore was equal to the task, matching every zero the Rummel posted from the second through the fifth inning.

The Beach Bums finally got their first hit of the game in the sixth as after a walk to lead off the inning to Andrew Franco, two batters later Chris Engell singled to center, moving Franco to third. Matt Brown made sure the Beach Bums capitalized on the offensive chance with a sac fly to left, tying the game at 1-1.

That was just the beginning of the offense for TC as in the seventh, the Beach Bums put two on with two out for C. J. Ziegler who grounded a ball through the Lake Erie defensive shift that rolled all the way to the wall, scoring Michael Diaz and J. T. Hall for a double and a 3-1 TC lead. Not done there, Andrew Franco picked out the first pitch he saw, singling into center, scoring Ziegler to put Traverse City up three.

The Beach Bums tacked on two more in the eighth to seal the final margin of victory and make a winner of Michael Moore (5-1) who, making his first start off the DL pitched six innings of three hit, one run ball for the victory, lowering his ERA to 2.34. Scott Dunn came in to start the seventh and pitched the final three innings, allowing just one hit for his first professional save. Phil Rummel (2-5) took the loss for Lake Erie.

Offensively, Ziegler’s two RBI gave him 11 on the season against the Crushers. Michael Diaz had two hits for TC

The series finale against the Crushers is a day game on Wednesday morning at 11:05 a.m. The pregame show on Sunny Country 101.9 will start at 10:45. Ryan Platt (6-1, 2.16) will start for the Beach Bums against Matt Smith (7-3, 2.88) for Lake Erie. The Beach Bums return home for a Thirsty Throwback Thursday against Washington on Thursday night. For more information or tickets, call 231-943-0100 or visit tcbeachbums.com.