Hillcats Locke up a win in opener against Dash

Despite a 49-minute rain delay, Jeff Locke pitched five strong innings of one-run baseball and the bottom third of the order produced five hits to lead Lynchburg to a 5-1 win over Winston-Salem in the first game of a doubleheader Friday.

The rain delay provided a tedious intermission to a game that was already scheduled for only seven innings so that the teams could squeeze in a pair. The rain was a fitting element to a game that was being played as a make-up for a July 5 rainout. The contest was interrupted in the bottom of the third after left fielder Alex Presley led off the inning with a single and moved to second on Jose De Los Santos’ bunt single.

Nearly an hour later, second baseman Chase d’Arnaud delivered an RBI single up the middle that advanced De Los Santos to third. Third baseman Josh Harrison followed that up with a sacrifice fly to right to give the Hillcats a 2-1 lead. Those were all the runs Locke would need. He stayed warm during the delay throwing in the pitching cage.

“We sent him to the cage to continue throwing. Jeff, I think, stayed loose enough and felt comfortable enough (to come back),” Hillcats manager P.J. Forbes said.

Minus his last outing, where Locke gave up 12 hits and six runs, the righty has been solid in his last five starts, giving up just one run in each game. Despite his strong starts of late, Locke was unsure whether he would return for the fourth inning.

“To be honest, I didn’t know if I was going to come back out. I threw in the cage (and) tried to keep my mind right,” Locke said. “I was more impressed by the offense tonight, to shut it down for close to an hour and then go back out and be aggressive.”

Forbes echoed Locke’s sentiments and was especially pleased with the bottom-third of his order, which provided lead-off hitter d’Arnaud and Harrison, who batted second, plenty of opportunities to drive in runs. The No. 8 and No. 9 nine hitters, Presley and De Los Santos, were both 2-for-3 on the night and scored three runs combined. Harrison finished with three RBIs, including a two-out single in the fourth that gave the Hillcats a three-run lead.

“Alex (Presley) has been playing really well lately. Josh had a huge hit. His two-out single was big and gave us a little breathing room,” Forbes said. “Anytime you can set the table at the bottom of the order and bring up the top you’re doing something right.”

The Hillcats as a team hit when it counted, going 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Harrison, who raised his average to .329, relished the chances to hit with runners on base.

“It’s always nice to have guys on base,” Harrison said. “We always want to get as many runs as we can. Locke pitched a great game so we were just battling for him.”

Moises Robles pitched two shut-out innings to close out the game, striking out three and giving up just two hits.

The second game of the doubleheader was rained out and will be played on Sunday as part of a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. Both Sunday games will be seven innings.