66ers rally, win in improbable fashion, 11-9

In a game about as crazy — but not as scripted — as the postgame lucha libre Mexican wrestling show at Arrowhead Credit Union Park, the Sixers rallied from two four-run deficits to down Lake Elsinore 11-9 on Friday night.

Sixers starting pitcher Kyle Hurst was knocked out of the game after three batters in the first inning when he apparently felt something in his shoulder and had to come out.

The Sixers trailed 5-1 in the third inning and 7-3 in the fifth but rallied.

RBI singles by Kole Calhoun and Eric Oliver in the sixth tied the score 7-7.

Lake Elsinore took a 9-7 lead in the eighth on a two-run single by Reymond Fuentes, his fourth hit of the game.

The Sixers rallied in the bottom half, with help from Lake Elsinore defense. Matt Long’s fairly routine fly ball to left was played into a triple when left fielder Wande Olabisi and  Fuentes miscommunicated. Michael Wing’s third hit of the game, an RBI single put the Sixers within 9-8. After a fly out, Jason Ray came into pitch and got a potential inning-ending double play grounder to third but third baseman Jacob Blackwood couldn’t handle it for an error. Dillon Baird’s RBI single to right tied it and Carlos Ramirez hit a sacrifice fly that gave the Sixers a 10-9 lead. David Harris drove in his first run as a Sixer with a double off the wall in right.

Mike Kenney (3-3), who was charged with the second of two runs in the top of the eighth got the win. He stayed in for the ninth and after Danny Payne singled for his fourth hit of the game to start the inning, Kenney retired the next three batters to preserve the win.

The Sixers used five relievers in the game and only one, Eric Cendejas (who faced only three batters) wasn’t charged with a run. But understandably, the bullpen as a whole got the game ball.