Danville Braves bullpen holds off late comeback bid by Pulaski

Matt Crim sat confidently in the dugout in the ninth inning. A four-run lead that the Danville Braves had amassed was slowly deteriorating, and there was nothing the starter could do but rely on his teammates.

“In the ninth, I had no doubt that Casey (Hodges) and all of them guys who came in to pitch would get it done,” Crim said. “There was no doubt in my mind, just a little frustrating, but I knew at the end of the day that they were going to get the job done.”

The bullpen was able to finish off the Pulaski Mariners, giving the Braves a 7-6 victory Sunday at Dan Daniel Park and, in the process, earning Crim his eighth win of the season, putting him in a four-way tie for most wins in a season in Danville history.

Crim, who allowed two runs and struck out seven in six innings, tied Delvis Pacheco (1996), Anthony Lerew (2002) and Brad Nelson (2003) atop the Danville record books. It was the southpaw’s ninth appearance and seventh start for the D-Braves (31-15), who have won every time he has appeared in a game.

Crim remains alone atop the Appalachian League in victories, has struck out 37 on the season and has issued seven walks, none of which came in Sunday’s game.

“I’m very, very happy for him. He’s been very solid all year,” Danville Braves manager Paul Runge said. “He just methodically goes about his business every time he goes out there. He’s been a solid guy for us all year. To be 8-0 in any league is quite an accomplishment.”

One of the D-Braves’ strong points — its bullpen — almost blew that accomplishment.

Entering the game sporting a 2.87 ERA and a league-high 18 saves, the bullpen allowed four runs, three earned, in three innings of work. Dennis Accomando worked 1/3 of an inning in the top of the ninth, giving up two hits before inducing a fly ball. Hodges came in and, in the span of six batters, made things quite eventful.

Hodges allowed one hit, but two D-Braves infield errors allowed three Pulaski (18-25) runs to cross the plate. With one out and the bases loaded, Hodges picked up his fourth save of the season with a pop out and a groundball that were fielded cleanly.

“We just didn’t catch the ball at the end of the game,” Runge said. “We created a mess for ourselves. Casey Hodges did a good job getting the ground balls, but we didn’t execute on defense. We certainly made life difficult for ourselves in the last inning.”

Cory Harrilchak was one of two players to extend a hitting streak to eight games. Harrilchak went 4-for-4 and finished a triple short of the cycle, including a two-run home run to right field in the sixth inning to give the Braves a 5-2 lead.

During his hitting streak, Harrilchak is hitting .519 (14-of-27) with two doubles and six runs batted in.

“I’ve been seeing (the ball) well here lately,” Harrilchak said. “I just try to take a level-headed approach to the plate every time and try to put good wood on the ball. Lately, I’ve been succeeding more than I’ve been failing.”

Riaan Spanjer-Furstenburg extended his hitting streak to eight games as well, with an RBI double to right field that coincidentally brought home Harrilchak for the game’s first run after Harrilchak doubled with one out.

“Cory, he’s an awesome player,” Crim said. “Offensive and defensively, he’s phenomenal. Just can’t explain it.”

Jace Whitmer and Jordan Kreke added two hits for the D-Braves. Chris Curley, making his second professional start, drove in his first run as a professional on a groundout in the seventh inning, giving Danville a 7-2 lead. That would turn out to be the winning RBI, which scored Whitmer from third.

“Matt’s a good team guy,” Harrilchak said. “Bottom line is, he’s trying to get the win as a team, and he’ll take a win whatever way is possible. He’s been throwing great for us the entire season. Every time he tiptoes the rubber, I think we’ve got a good shot to win. I think we go out there with a lot of confidence, and we kind of feed off him getting a lot of ground balls and quick innings. That helped spark our offense a little bit.”