Raptors v Hawks Game 5

Ogden, UT

Following two of the Raptors most well-rounded performances of the year, the Raptors backed that strong play up on the green, notching their 3rd straight win in a 16-1 beat down. 

Every facet of the Raptors game clicked tonight, with Rafi setting the tone early posting zeroes on the bump. Rafi’s efforts netted him his team leading 3rd win on the campaign, tossing 6.0 innings, allowing 5 hits, striking out 7 batters, walking one, and most importantly, not allowing a single earned run. Out of Rafi’s 89 total pitches, an uncanny 62 of them found the strike zone, sparking domination on the diamond, effortlessly locating inside and outside of the zone, keeping hitters off balanced, and ensuing soft contact all game long. 

Rafi’s strong performance paved the way for the Carson Angeroth and Shawn Tripplet duo to come out and shut the door, keeping the game planted at 16-1. In their three innings of work, they only allowed one hit combined, while striking out one batter, promptly closing the door on Boise, and earning the Raptors their third straight win. 

For the Raptors lineup, it was a bad day to be a baseball, with all four of their home run leaders (Sargent, Ultsch, Bagnieski, Cone) going yard for their sixth homeruns of the year. They are all still knotted in a four way tie for the team lead in homeruns. The party started with a solo shot and the first of the year for a man that was long overdue in Connor Bagnieski. 430 feet of absolute bomb put the Raptors on the board early and they never looked back. They would score 5 more runs in the frame, all with two outs, topped off with a Nick Ultsch grand slam 440 feet over raptor ridge in right center. Two innings later Ray Gilly got in on the action, launching a 398 foot shot to the opposite field for homerun number 6 on the year, swelling the lead to 7. Just one inning later, they tacked on 4 more runs before Chris Sargent unloaded on his sixth big fly of the year for a 2 run shot. But wait, there's more, the final soul crushing blow of the night came off the bat of Jack Cone, the fourth and final member to join the six homerun club, closing out a monster 6 rbi night, with the three run shot acting as the cherry on top. 

What marks a great night to be a Raptors fan also serves as the team’s second biggest win differential and provides some much needed momentum before the sixth and final game of the series tomorrow. It’s three straight in the win column for the Raptors, and they're aiming to tie their season high win streak of four in a row, tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 PM here from Lindquist Field.