Grand slam sinks Wild Things
TROY, N.Y. – Former major leaguer Denis Phipps hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the seventh inning as the Tri-City ValleyCats defeated the Wild Things 11-9 Saturday night.
The 35-year-old Phipps, who played briefly for the Cincinnati Reds in 2012, broke a 6-6 tie with his fourth home run of the season and second of the game. He drove in six runs.
Phipps’ grand slam came off Washington reliever John Murphy (0-2).
Willy Garcia, another former major leaguer, and Carson Maxwell homered for Tri-City, which used seven pitchers. Francisco Jimenez (1-1) was the winner and Trey Cochran-Gill pitched the ninth inning for his fifth save.
Tri-City led 11-6 after the pivotal seventh inning. The Wild Things closed to within 11-9 by scoring three times in the eighth. Hector Roa went 3-for-5 with a triple and his sixth home run. Joe Campagna and Andrew Sohn each drove in two runs.