Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin

By Scott Roblin

Grand Slammed

Ortiz’s grand slam guides Giants to series finale victory over Mavericks

Aug 3, 2019 | 11:04 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – For most of the year the Medicine Hat Mavericks have been masters of the big inning, scoring multiple runs in one frame to take firm grip on two points.

But on Saturday night, it was the Fort McMurray Giants coming away with a four-run fifth inning thanks to one big swing from Richard Ortiz in a 6-3 victory.

Ortiz swung the bat on a 2-0 count from Mavericks starter Garrett Nicholson, clearing the bases with a monster grand-slam to give the Giants the lead for good.

Wrapping up a three-game set between the Mavs and Giants at Athletic Park, it was Fort McMurray celebrating early with a ground-out from Max Hewitt that brought home a run in the first inning.

A wild pitch from Nicholson one inning later gave Giants infielder Cam Sanderson the green light to trot home to double Fort McMurray’s lead to a pair.

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Riding an eight-game hit streak, Collin Klingensmith’s bat continued to catch fire for Medicine Hat in the bottom of the third with a solo home run to cut the Giants lead to one run.

Mavericks first baseman Cameron Pope came alive in the fourth inning after a Giants wild pitch, getting a hold of one to the outfield to score Colton Wright and Sal Rodriguez to put Medicine Hat in the lead for the first time on the night.

All that progress came unravelled in the fifth inning however, as Nicholson loaded the bases with two out and met Ortiz at the plate.

On the third pitch he saw, Ortiz crushed the Nicholson offering over the scoreboard in left field for the grand-slam and the eventually winning runs for Fort McMurray.

Nicholson’s night lasted five innings on the bump for the Mavericks, pulled after allowing six earned runs on five hits with one strikeout.

Medicine Hat’s bats were only able to muster six hits on the evening, with Pope and Klingensmith being the lone hitters in red and white to drive in runs.

Failing to capture the sweep over the Giants, the Mavericks fell to a 29-23 record with the loss and now sit just a half game up on the Lethbridge Bulls for second place in the Western Division.

A crucial home-and-home series awaits Medicine Hat with Lethbridge, which could go a long way to determining home field advantage in the opening round of playoffs.

The first game of the series will be played Sunday at Athletic Park at 2:05 pm and will be followed by a tilt on holiday Monday at Spitz Stadium in Lethbridge at 6:05 pm.