Strong Pitching Leads To July 4th Win For RedHawks

The Oklahoma City RedHawks pitching staff held the New Orleans Zephyrs quiet all night, and the RedHawks had enough offense to notch a 2-1 win before 11,212 at Zephyr Field Thursday night.

Four Oklahoma City pitchers combined to allow one run and three hits. One night after walking 11 Albuquerque Isotopes, the pitching staff allowed just one walk and registered 11 strikeouts.

Starting pitcher Brad Peacock led the way, recording his fifth consecutive quality start. Peacock (4-2) allowed one run over six innings, scattering three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Over his last five starts Peacock has posted a 1.47 ERA and the RedHawks have won all five games. He also improved to 3-0 with a 0.98 ERA in three career starts at Zephyr Field.

With none on and two outs in the bottom of the second inning, Zephyrs second baseman Nick Green connected on a solo home run out to left field to give New Orleans a 1-0 lead.

The RedHawks scored in their next at bat. With runners at first and second and two away, George Springer singled to left-center field. As Robbie Grossman was heading home, the throw came into second base, where Jonathan Villar had taken a wide turn around the bag. Fortunately Grossman's foot touched home plate right before Villar was tagged out to end the inning, tying the game.

Oklahoma City jumped in front in the fifth. Che-Hsuan Lin led off the inning with a single and advanced all the way to third on a fielding error by right fielder Bryan Petersen. Lin later scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-1.

The Zephyrs (42-46) had a hard time getting anything going against Peacock, but they did have runners at second and third with two outs in the sixth. Peacock struck out Joe Mahoney on a full count pitch to end the inning and maintain the lead.

The bullpen took the reins from there. Hector Ambriz, Jose Valdez, and Josh Zeid kept the Zephyrs scoreless and hitless over the final three innings. The only Zephyr to reach base after the sixth came as a result of an error, and New Orleans never put the tying run in scoring position.

The three pitchers combined to retire the final eight New Orleans batters, and Zeid retired the side in order on just eight pitches in the ninth to earn his ninth save.

New Orleans starting pitcher Brian Flynn turned in a strong start, but fell to 0-3 in three starts against the RedHawks in 2013. Flynn (2-9) allowed two runs and seven hits over 6.2 innings. The lefty struck out six and walked three.

The RedHawks will look to win a fourth straight when they face the Zephyrs at 7:07 p.m. Friday night.