DANVILLE — Most relief pitchers will typically get credit for a hold or a save in a good situation and a loss in a bad situation.
Actually victories for a reliever are either a result of being lucky enough to see your offense overcome a deficit, and sometimes because of what you did. In baseball jargon those are typically referred to vulture wins.
Danville right-hander reliever Mason Robinson earned his first win of the summer on Friday night when the Danville Dans rallied to beat the Johnstown Mill Rats 10-9 in 10 innings.
But this was anything but a vulture win.
“He earned every bit of it,’’ said Danville manager Eric Coleman, noting that Robinson threw 84 pitches in 4.2 innings. “Without him tonight, we are not walking off this field with a win.’’
Robinson entered the contest with the Dans trailing the Rats 8-6 and he promptly struck out the first two Johnstown batters he faced to get out of a jam.
Over the next four innings, the right-hander from Kaskaskia Community College, struck out seven more and the only run he allowed was unearned, as it was the free ghost runner in the 10th inning.
“In the 10th inning, they are basically handing the offense a run,’’ Robinson said. “Give credit to Johnstown, they did what you are supposed to do and they put pressure on us to see if we could get one in the bottom half of the inning.’’
But, wasn’t he experiencing a little bit of fatigue, considering he hadn’t thrown more than 40 pitches in an outing this whole season as he was the closer at Kaskaskia?
“Actually, I know that I’ve got it in me. I was a starter in high school and it was just about how my body felt,’’ Robinson said. “I was feeling good in the bullpen and once I got out of that first inning, I knew this could be something special.
“My teammates did a really good job playing really good defense behind me. There were a lot of plays that could have completely changed my appearance.’’
Including getting out of 10th as Robinson got Johnstown’s Max Humphrey to hit into an inning-ending double play as Humphrey wiped out running down the first-base line.
“When it was on the ground, I knew that my defense would take care of it,’’ Robinson said. “I knew I was out of the jam. I was walking off the field before (Nolan) Farley even threw the ball to first.’’
So, you didn’t see Humphrey fall?
“No, but I heard the crowd and I turned around to see him down,’’ Robinson said. “It just shows how hard, both teams, are trying to win.’’
In the bottom of the 10th, Sebastian Arguelles was the designated ghost runner for the Dans and he promptly advanced to third on Michael DiMartini’s fly out to right.
After Aaron Downs got hit by a pitch to put runners in first and third with one out and Graham Mastros coming to the plate.
“We were chasing one run,’’ Mastros said. “My thoughts were anything in play. I’m trying to get something into the air and deep to score the run from third.’’
But Johnstown reliever Jack Newman uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Arguelles to score with the tying run and Down advanced to second.
“The first pitch was in the dirt and it made my situation pretty easy,’’ Mastros said. “I was just playing with house money at that point.
Mastros delivered a hard-hit grounder to short that took a bounce over the head of Johnstown shortstop Parker Martin. Downs raced home with the winning run.
“It was the Danville hop that won that ballgame,’’ Coleman said. “I’ve seen it a few times. I’ve actually seen the ball go higher. This time, the hop was on our side. We were able to score and get the win.
“This win starts with Mason Robinson. If he doesn’t keep us in the game, we had no chance. He pitched with heart and guts.’’
Lafayette 8 Danville 5
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A bus malfunction was a bad start for the Dans on Saturday and it only got worse with a four-run fifth inning from the Aviators.
Lafayette’s top three hitters in its order, Grant Miller, Alec Gonzales and Mikey Scott, combined four four hits, including a homer and six RBIs.
Mastros and Nate Vargas were bright spots for the Dans. Mastros went 3-for-5 with a homer, while Vargas was 3-for-3 with a triple.
Dubois Co. 10 Danville 4
DANVILLE — The Bombers scored nine unanswered runs in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings, turning a 2-1 deficit into a 9-2 advantage.
Danville seemingly missed numerous opportunities in the early innings, including having runners on second and third in the fourth with just one out.
“We have to do a better job of situational hitting,’’ Coleman said. “We didn’t do it tonight. When you have second and third with one out, you have to be able to put the ball in play. We weren’t able to do that.’’
The Dans were held to just five hits in the contest, while allowing 13.
“I just thought their guy pitched better tonight,’’ Coleman said.