Wichita, Kansas – Strong pitching and late offense lifted the Dogs to a 4-2 victory Sunday afternoon over the Wingnuts as Chicago swept Wichita to cap their first and final series at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
Chicago received four scoreless innings from right-hander Wes Torrez in his first start of the season and the Dogs scored single runs in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings to collect their fourth win in a row.
The Dogs scored the game’s first run in the top of the fourth thanks to an Edwin Arroyo triple and a Rubi Silva RBI ground out.
Wichita evened the game at 1-1 with a run on a two-out rally in the home half of the fifth inning. Nick Rotola singled and stole second base, before Leo Vargas drove Rotola in with an RBI single of his own.
In the top of the sixth inning Kenny Wilson and Arroyo led off with consecutive singles, and Silva again drove a run in with a sacrifice fly.
Stephen Perez drove in Dalton Blaser from first base with an RBI triple to push Chicago in front 3-1 in the top of the seventh. The first three Dogs runs came against Wichita starter Travis Banwart, who entered the game with the league’s lowest earned run average at 2.46.
The Dogs then added one final run of insurance in the top of the eighth inning. Wilson and Arroyo again led off the frame with consecutive singles, and Silva drove in Wilson from third base with his second sacrifice fly.
Silva tallied three RBI in the game, and Wilson and Arroyo each collected three hits. The Dogs put the leadoff man on base six times in Sunday’s game and scored three of those six leadoff baserunners.
Torrez pitched four scoreless innings in his first start in a Dogs uniform. The right-hander allowed just one hit, and struck out three Wingnuts.
Chicago reliever Brandon White earned the victory for the Dogs, pitching one and one-third innings and allowing one earned run. The win was the first of the season for White in his second appearance in a Dogs uniform. Taylor Grover worked a perfect ninth inning for his 11th save of the year.
The victory gives Chicago just their second sweep of the season, and their second four-game winning streak of the year as well. The Dogs are now 37-47 on the season and 11-5 in August. Wichita falls to 51-35 with the loss.
The Dogs will now return home to begin a seven-game homestand with a doubleheader Monday at Impact Field against the Gary SouthShore RailCats.
Tickets to every game of the homestand are available in line at the Impact Field Ticket Office and online at www.thechicagodogs.com/tickets/