Legends fall to red-hot RiverDogs

By David Schuh

The Lexington Legends failed to extend their four-game win streak, losing to the Charleston RiverDogs 4-1 Tuesday night.

Charleston entered Whitaker Bank Ballpark winners of eight in a row. Starting pitcher Caleb Cotham came in with a 1-0 record, boasting a 2.08 ERA. After getting off to a bit of a slow start, Cotham shut the Legends down. He left the game after five innings, giving up just one run on four hits. He lowered his ERA to an even 2.00 in 18 IP.

Lexington did take a first inning lead, though. Second baseman Delino DeShields, Jr. walked to lead off the inning. After stealing second, shortstop Alex Todd singled to left to put the home team up 1-0 early.

But, Legends starter Nicholas Tropeano had trouble in the second. Entering the game 1-0 with a 0.47 ERA, Tropeano allowed two hits and an error to load the bases with no outs. He then walked the fourth batter of the inning to tie the game. He entered the game with a strikeout-to-walk ratio over five, but struggled to locate his fastball on Tuesday.

Charleston first baseman Reymond Nunez then lofted a bloop single into shallow right field to score two more runs. Tropeano struck out the next three batters to stop the rally. The RiverDogs led 3-1.

Tropeano, however, was lifted after just two innings. Reliever Nathan Pettus entered and allowed a run after back-to-back Charleston doubles.

The rest of the game saw very little scoring, although the RiverDogs had their fair share of baserunners. The road team tallied a total of 11 hits, leaving six runners on base for the game.

The Legends (9-10) and RiverDogs will turn around quickly and play game two Wednesday at  10:05 a.m.