With runners at second and third and one out and the Dragons up a run, Jorge made a diving catch in shallow left field of a sinking liner to preserve the lead. Then Cody Adcock, the grateful beneficiary of Jorge’s terrific play, got the final out on a ground ball to lift the Dragons to a 2-1 victory over Peoria.
“I went out there do my best playing defense,” Jorge said. “I knew it was a close game, so I had to make that catch ... had to make that catch.”
Jorge actually made two run-saving plays in the ninth. First, he cut off Anyelo Encarnacion’s double in the corner before the ball could reach the wall to hold Deniel Ortiz at third base, stopping him from scoring from first. Then he charged Jose Cordoba’s line drive, made the catch, popped up and fired a strike to home to keep Encarnacion put.
“Props to Carlos for having the foot speed and just the timing and awareness and the guts to make that play, to not be afraid of that moment and go make a great play,” Harrison Jr. said. “I don’t know if anybody else makes those plays.”
Jorge’s defense will eventually cost Adcock a little cash.
“I owe Carlos dinner sometime because that was unbelievable,” Adcock said. “Game could have shifted right then.”
Instead, the last-place Dragons (16-31 second half, 37-75 overall) won their third straight game for just the second time this season.
“I love this team,” Adcock said. “We’ve gone through it all together, a lot of losses, but we’re starting to pick it up and pull in the right direction. And this is where we want to be.”
A day after battering the Chiefs 14-3, the Dragons found a different way to win. They won a close game with lots of winning plays and teammates picking up other teammates in pressure situations.
The infield turned inning-ending double plays in the fourth and fifth innings to help starter Luke Hayden (3-7) pitch into the sixth inning. Hayden allowed a leadoff double in the sixth then got the next two batters out. But a walk and RBI single ended the shutout. Will Cannon replaced Hayden and got a strikeout to end the inning.
Cannon got the first two out in the eighth, then walked the next two. Adcock entered and got a groundout to end the inning. Then Jorge made his big plays.
“I said to the team after the game it’s a privilege playing games like that because that is kind of playoff atmosphere where you’re playing a closely contested game,” Harrison Jr. said.
Adcock, despite getting in trouble in the ninth, thrived on the energy of the atmosphere and the pressure.
“That’s what you want as a pitcher,” he said. “You want to be in the game at those moments.”
Jorge was ready to enter the game in bottom of the eighth as a pinch runner if left fielder Anthony Stephan had reached base. That didn’t happen, but the team’s regular center fielder was ready to go in the ninth.
“We live for that kind of moment because we came here to compete every single day,” Jorge said. “When the games get like that, you can feel the pressure and the tension.”
An unnoticed key moment happened in the seventh when catcher Diego Omana led off with a walk. There was discussion about pinch-running for him because the Dragons were eager to add to the one-run lead. But they didn’t. And Omana blocked several pitches in the final two innings, including a couple with his mask to keep runners from advancing and scoring.
“Overlooked in all that for a lot of people is Diego Omana,” Harrison Jr. said. “He had the rhythm of the game and was flowing good. He’s an unsung hero for keeping the tempo good and giving those guys the confidence to bounce those breaking balls.”
The Dragons started fast again against the Chiefs (18-31, 44-70). Johnny Ascanio started the first inning with a single and Peyton Stovall walked. Two outs later Carlos Sanchez grounded to the first baseman, but the timing was off with the pitcher covering first base, the throw got away for an error and Ascanio scored.
John Michael Faile led off the second inning with his 12th home run for a 2-0 lead. The lead stood until the final innings. And those two runs were enough because Jorge covered every inch of left field — on his day off.
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