In the midst of their first losing streak in the 2015 campaign, the task for the Redlegs would not get any easier as they approached the Backyard Battle with the Dayton Rangers. The Rangers are in first place in the Miami Division.

Matt Redman got the starting nod for the Redlegs and ended up leaving early due to discomfort in his throwing arm. Redman allowed 4 hits in the first two frames and 0 earned runs, though some shaky defense in the first inning allowed the Rangers to put 3 on the board. This has been a trend for Redman in the 2015 season, of the 23 runs he has given up only 8 have been earned.

The Redlegs, for the 3rd straight game, only managed 5 hits in the game and were only able to score 2 runs. The first run came in the top of the 1st inning when Matt Morrison singled, stole 2nd and would score on a groundout that the Rangers were able to turn into a double play. The 2nd run was scored in the 5th when Kyle Arend hammered a line drive over Steve Marshall’s head in center field. In what was almost an amazing play, Marshall crashed into the fence and got stuck forcing him to make a throw to Peck in right field. Meanwhile Arend motored around the bases and was able to beat the throw for an inside the park home run.

Jackson Millard fired the final 4 innings for the Redlegs and kept the dangerous Rangers lineup in check. He allowed 5 hits and 3 runs while striking out 4 in the relief effort. Millard and catcher Mike Hartman teamed up to make a run saving play in the 5th inning. After a fly out and a ground out, the next 3 batters reached to load the bases. A runner tried to score on a pitch that squirted up the 3rd base line but Hartman was able to pounce on it and make a perfect back handed toss to the covering Millard who applied the tag which ended the inning. Jared Bradley made another nice play in right field as he gunned down a would-be scorer for the 2nd out of the first inning.

The loss extended the Redlegs losing streak to 4, their longest since August of 2012 when they lost to the A’s and Shockers in back to back double header sweeps.

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