Crushers on a Roll: Franchise Sets Record With 11 Straight Ws

The Lake Erie Crushers used more late inning heroics on Sunday evening at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon to score their 11th straight victory, as they capped a perfect homestand in a come from behind, 6-4 victory over the Frontier Greys.

The 11 straight victories for the Crushers (50-31) broke the old franchise record, which was set in early August of 2011. The win also gave them a perfect 7-0 record on the homestand. Lake Erie how has a startling record of 16-1 in the month of August, they’ve won 19 of their last 21, and they are 24-6 since the All-Star break. The loss for the Greys (28-53) was their seventh in nine games against the Crushers this season.

It was the second night in a row that the Crushers had to come from behind to beat the Greys. Lake Erie scored twice in the ninth inning on Saturday to come from behind to win, and on Sunday, they scored twice with two outs in the eighth inning to snap a 4-4 tie.

The bottom of the Lake Erie batting order went to work in the bottom of the fourth.  Vincent Mejia was hit by a pitch to begin the inning, and Emmanuel Quiles followed with a run scoring triple down the line in right.  Juan Sanchez then drove in Quiles with a game tying RBI double.

Jon Shepard (1-3) retired the first two batters of the eighth inning, before the Crushers put together a two-out rally in the eighth inning to take the lead.

The rally began on back-to-back singles from Quiles and Sanchez, and Hertler followed with the eventual game winning RBI double.  Kevin Berard followed with a fourth consecutive two-out hit, a run scoring single to plate the final run of the game.

Brandon Smith (2-0) scored the victory, tossing two scoreless innings of two-hit relief, while Dale Dickerson (14) worked a scoreless ninth inning to earn the save. Shepard allowed two runs on four hits over an inning and suffered the loss.

Hertler, Quiles and Sanchez led the way for Lake Erie, as they all three produced three hits, counting for nine of Lake Erie’s 12 knocks.  Hertler’s three-hit performance extended his on base streak to 19 games. During the six day stay at home, the Crushers scored 42 runs on 60 hits.

The Crushers are off on Monday, but will begin a three game series with the Normal Cornbelters at the Corn Crib in Normal, Ill., on Tuesday night. Lefty Dave Middendorf (10-6, 2.81) will start for the Crushers. The first pitch is scheduled for 8:05 PM.