Edeburn, Furlong Shut Down Paints, Win 5-3

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – With the game tied at 3 in the ninth inning, the Johnstown Mill Rats scored twice to edge the Chillicothe Paints 5-3 in a Prospect League matchup on Thursday night, ending a four-game losing streak.

The Mill Rats carried a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth after a strong performance from starting pitcher Mark Edeburn, who threw the first seven frames. With one out, Santrel Farmer hammered a solo home run off of reliever Sean Furlong to tie the game.

Johnstown answered right back in the ninth. After a leadoff double by Asher Corl and a hit by pitch to Mack Higuchi, the Mill Rats had runners on first and second with one out. Lukas Torres then hit into a fielder's choice, which pinch runner DJ Alexander used to score from second base to put his team ahead 4-3. Pete Capobianco gave the Mill Rats an insurance run with an RBI double with two outs.

In the bottom half, Furlong quickly retired the first two hitters, but then gave up back-to-back hits, with the latter being a double. However, Mill Rats left fielder Torres played the double off the wall and fired a strike to Capobianco, who relayed the ball to the plate to cut down Mike Sprockett to end the game.

Furlong claimed the win in relief after throwing two innings. Cruz McFadden took the loss after surrendering the ninth inning runs. Edeburn finished with seven innings pitched to go along with allowing two runs on four hits while walking one and striking out 10. Edeburn retired Chillicothe in order in four separate frames.

The Mill Rats, who totaled just seven hits in their previous two games, compiled 12 against the Paints. Johnstown also put the leadoff man on base in seven of the nine innings. Mack Higuchi was 3-for-3 for the Mill Rats. Corl and Randy Carlo each tallied two hits. Capobianco drove in two runs.

Johnstown (8-13) travels to Lafayette to begin a two-game series on Friday night at 7 p.m.