Sako stuffs Birds

HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point’s Yuhi Sako held the Charleston Dirty Birds to three runs and six hits over 5 2/3 innings as the Rockers took game three of the series 5-3 on Thursday night at Truist Point.

Sako (W, 7-6) kept the Dirty Birds scoreless until the sixth inning while the Rockers built a 4-0 lead. Ryan McCarthy led the Rockers with three RBI while Nolan Watson added a pair.

The Rockers scored three runs in the second inning to take an early lead. High Point delivered five straight hits: a two-out single from Ty Hubbard, a single from D.J. Burt, a two-run double to center from Watson, an RBI double by McCarthy and another single from Luke Napleton.

The Rockers extended the lead to 4-0 in the fourth when Hubbard was hit by a pitch, moved to third on a pair of ground outs and scored on McCarthy’s RBI single.

Charleston closed the margin to 4-3 with three solo homers in the sixth inning off the bats of Cornelius Randolph, Jhon Nunez and Isaias Tejeda. That flurry chased Sako after 5 2/3 innings in which he allowed six hits and three runs while walking one and striking out six.

High Point added a solo run in the bottom of the sixth as Hubbard doubled and scored on a McCarthy ground out as the Rockers grabbed a 5-3 lead.

Nick Timpanelli, David Hess and Kyle Halbohn combined to retire the final 10 Charleston batters in order. Timpanell struck out Wendell Rijo to end the sixth, Hess didn’t allow a baserunner in his two innings and Halbohn earned the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.

The win moves the Rockers to 13-11 in the second half and 42-25 for the season while Charleston falls to 9-15 and 32-55.

Game four of the series is set for 6:35 p.m. on Friday at Truist Point. It will be Motorsports Night followed by fireworks as the Rockers send Kent Emanuel (4-0, 2.14) to the mound as they seek a third straight win from the Dirty Birds.

Rocker fans can follow the action live on DugoutTV.org or the audio broadcast on the free app MixLR.