The Chasers offense is still on the struggle bus, but the pitching and defense have picked up the pace in Northwestern New York.

Led by a strong starting outing from Dinelson Lamet and two runs in the Top of the 6th Inning, the Omaha Storm Chasers shutout the Rochester Red Wings 2-0 in Game 5 at Innovative Field this evening.

After surrendering 24 runs over the first three games of this series, Omaha pitchers have tossed 18 scoreless innings to set up a potential series-tying win tomorrow night.

Lamet has found a rhythm since being picked up by the Royals two weeks ago. He’s surrendered just one run in 6.2 innings with Omaha. Tonight, he tossed five shutout innings allowing Rochester’s lone hit while walking one and striking out five. What’s more impressive is he did it while only throwing 62 pitches (38 were strikes). Could be a valuable asset to a struggling starting rotation entering the final two months.

Good pitching can set up opportunities for a struggling offense, and the Chasers took advantage in the 6th Inning. John Rave led off the inning with a triple to right field and scored on Nick Loftin’s single two batters later. Loftin took second on a disengaging violation (???) and Brian O’Keefe knocked him in with another single to give Omaha a 2-0 lead.

Austin Cox walked the first two men of the 6th, but Jonathan Bowlan got Nationals #2 prospect (#4 in all of baseball) Dylan Crews to ground into a double play to end the inning.

Bowlan, Tyler Duffey, and Evan Sisk each tossed an inning each in the home stretch of the game. Sisk got former Columbus Clipper Jose Tena to ground out to end the game and pick up his 7th save of the season.

NOTES:

• Nick Loftin finished the game with three of Omaha’s five total hits. 3-4 with an RBI.
• John Rave hit his fourth triple of the season. He finished 1-4 with the game-winning run.
• Brian O’Keefe tallied his 43rd RBI of the season, finishing 1-3 with a walk.
• Since the series began, Omaha has only scored 12 runs. Rochester scored 14 in Game 1. While it is good to see the Chasers win tight, low-scoring games, this offense is stagnating. Could just be one of those “mid-season speed bumps”, but it’s not good enough to win come postseason.
• Sisk lowered his ERA to 1.60 with the save in the ninth.
• Tyler Duffey threw a perfect 8th Inning. His ERA sits at 2.35. He continues to look better.
• Jonathan Bowlan was clutch tonight. Huge double play to end the 6th, then tossed a perfect 7th Inning including one strikeout. Good to see him adjusting to a bullpen role.

NEXT GAME:

The Storm Chasers will wrap up their 12-game road trip tomorrow at 12:05pm with one last tilt against the Red Wings. After that, the Chasers will be in the comfy confines of home for three of the next four weeks (two straight home-stands to start). According to MiLB.com, Alec Marsh, recently optioned by the Royals, is expected to start for the Chasers.