May 28, 2010 Lincoln, NE - El Paso put up a good fight in trying to come from behind in the late innings but fell short, losing 7-4 to the Lincoln Saltdogs at Haymarket Park on Friday night. The loss is El Paso's fifth straight loss, and the Diablos are now 2-5 on their current road trip.
Lincoln took an early 2-0 lead when they put together two hits and a walk in the first inning. They extended their lead to 3-0 on a fourth inning Argelis Nunez home run. El Paso would finally get on the board in the seventh inning on a Matt Imwalle home run. Lincoln immediately responded when they pushed across three more runs in the seventh inning to make their lead 6-1. The Diablos would mount their final come back of the night in the eighth inning when they scored three runs of their own. Bryon Smith and Mike Provencher both had RBI doubles and J.D. Reininger brought in one run on a ground out. That was as close as they would get. After the Saltdogs added an insurance run in the eighth inning El Paso would get the tying run to the plate in the ninth but could do no more.
El Paso's offensive troubles continued for much of the night. The top five in the line-up which was at one point a combined 0-15 finished just 3-20. The bottom of the line up did the damage as the bottom four had seven hits. Leading the way was Mike Provencher going 3-4 with an RBI. Matt Imwalle ended the night 2-3 with his home run which was his second of the season.
Starter Amad Stephens pitched well but took the loss. Stephens (1-2) allowed four runs while pitching into the seventh inning on six hits and five strike outs. The bull pen could not keep the Lincoln bats down as they allowed three runs over the final 1 2/3 of the game.
El Paso looks to end their losing streak on Saturday night in game two of three against the Saltdogs. D.J. Mattox (1-2, 5.09) makes the start against Lincoln=92s Tim Brown (1-1, 4.00). Game time is slated to start at 6:05 and it can be heard on ESPN radio 1380 or online at www.diablos.com.
Nick Vlietstra
El Paso Diablos
Director of Broadcasting
(w) 915-755-2000
(c) 269-370-0380