Atlantic League baseball: Gastonia sends ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä to seventh-straight loss

ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä got the potential tying run to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Gastonia’s Sam Bordner fanned Jaylen Smith swinging to strand a pair and seal the Dirty Birds’ seventh-straight loss.

James Nelson, Zach Daniels and Joe DeLuca each had two hits for the Dirty Birds (21-35 second half, 51-68 overall). Daniels homered and drove in a pair.

Justin Wylie produced three hits and Shed Long Jr., Carter Aldrete and Narciso Crook added two apiece for Gastonia (34-22 second half, 62-57 overall).

Wylie and Crook each went deep and collected two RBIs. Wylie tallied two runs.

Maceo Campbell took the loss, allowing five earned runs on seven hits over four frames.

Nick Wells got the Ghost Peppers' decision, yielding three earned runs on five hits in five innings. He fanned seven Dirty Birds and walked four.

Bordner earned a save, pitching around a pair of ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä singles in a scoreless ninth.

Gastonia maintained a three-game lead over Lexington in the second-half South Division race while shrinking its magic number to 2.