O’Fallon, MO – The Lake Erie Crushers had scored ten or more runs to win their previous three ballgames, but on Tuesday they relied on pitching and defense to carry them to a 5-4 win over River City at T.R. Hughes Ballpark.

Lake Erie fell behind 3-0 in the second inning as rookie starter Chris Rigo allowed three doubles and a bases-loaded walk to the Rascals. But the Crushers quickly picked up their teammate in the top of the third as Wayne Bond singled and would eventually score on a fielder’s choice and error on a ball hit by Brad Griffiths. Jodam Rivera then launched a two-run homer to right field to tie the game at three.

The Crushers would grab the lead in the sixth as Bond struck again. The rookie outfielder hit a two-out, two-run homer to left to put Lake Erie ahead 5-3. The Crushers would then rely on their bullpen to carry them the rest of the way as Cristobal Mata and Jacinto Gonell combined to throw four innings of shutout ball. Gonell was aided in the ninth by Rivera’s fine grab of a line drive off the bat of Scott Robinson. Gonell then struck out Chris Colton to end the game.

Rigo went on to receive the win in his first professional start as he allowed three runs on six hits in five innings of work. “I thought he got better as the game went on,” said Lake Erie skipper John Massarelli. “He made adjustments after that second inning and probably could have kept going. It was very positive for us.”

What was also impressive about the win for the Crushers is that it came just hours after the team released outfielder Luke Hetherington. “The release is due to a violation of team policy,” said Massarelli.

The Crushers are now 29-23 on the season and will look to complete a sweep of the Rascals on Wednesday night. Jorge Charry will get the start for Lake Erie against River City’s Josh Lowey.