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KANNAPOLIS — It was National Elvis Night at Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium Thursday night and Macon’s Matt Butler left the Piedmont Boll Weevils all shook up in a 7-1 Braves victory.
There was no good luck charm for the Weevils, who had Shomari Beverly (hip), Jorge Padilla (heel) and Nate Espy (a night off) serving as spectators only. Butler, a second-round draft choice out of Hattiesburg, Miss., completely stifled the Weevils hitters, holding them to just four hits in seven innings of work.
“I can’t remember the last time we got just four hits,” marveled Piedmont manager Greg Legg. “Butler had a strong performance. He was very good with his location and threw enough changeups. We had to hit the ball to score runs and for the most part, he put the ball where he wanted.”
So did the Braves hitters, who banged around three Weevils pitchers for 15 hits. Ten were given up by starter Matire Franco, who was knocked out in the sixth inning.
“They just played way better than we did,” sighed Legg, whose team fell to 78-40 overall and 31-16 in the second half. “They’ve played better in two of the three games.”
Piedmont actually led 1-0 after Russ Jacobson doubled and came home when Aaron Merhoff’s grounder was errored.
Franco made it hold up, getting out of a couple of jams, until the fifth inning. That’s when nearly all of his pitchers were return to sender. The Braves lined out four hits in a two-run fifth and four more in a two-run sixth.
“That was his third time through the lineup and sometimes, it gets tough,” Legg said. “They put pressure on Franco every inning and finally came through. They’ve put pressure on our pitchers in every one of these games.”
It got no better for relievers Justin Fry or Chris Keelin. Fry gave up two hits and a run in 112 innings, while Keelin was ripped for three runs in the eighth on three hits and three walks.
The only question for the Boll Weevil fans was whether Jay Sitzman could continue his streak of scoring runs. He had eight straight going into Thursday.
The streak appeared to come to an end when he flied to left to start the ninth. But Nick Crocker simply dropped it and Sitzman hustled all the way to third. Buzz Hannahan’s ball was thrown away, allowing Sitzman to trot home.
“You have to credit that kid,” Legg said. “He kept it going.”
The Weevils will try to rebound tonight when they send Ryan Madson (10-5, 2.92) to the mound. He missed Wednesday due to a bruised thumb.
“Madson should start and maybe we can get it going again,” said Legg,
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NOTES: Sitzman is hitting .327, good for third in the South Atlantic League. He has scored 14 runs in the past nine games and has 84 on the season. ... The Piedmont pitching staff, which leads the SAL in ERA (2.89) gave up eight earned runs Thursday. ... Brian Hitchcox had two of the four hits. ... Newcomer Dan O’Neill played his first game, doubling in his first at-bat and walking twice. ... The score could’ve been worse. Macon left 13 runners aboard. ... Butler (12-5) trails only Brett Myers in wins. Myers has 13. ... Despite the two losses, Piedmont is still 7-3 over its last 10 games. Delmarva was rained out last night and the Weevils still lead the Northern Division by 312 games.
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