After firing a seven-inning complete game shutout last week, Brandon Lawson matched his career best with eight innings pitched Wednesday night as the Hooks blanked the Missions, 4-0, to take the first two games of the series at Wolff Stadium.
Lawson scattered four singles on the night, with only two leaving the infield. The sinker-baller induced 12 groundouts, including seven in a row from the end of the second through the fourth. He walked one and hit a batter, who was quickly erased on a 5-4-3 double play in the seventh.
Lawson is the only Hooks pitcher to log seven innings in a performance this year, and he’s done so three times – all coming since the start of August. The 26-year-old from Festus, Missouri leads Corpus Christi with four quality starts.
Nick Hernandez worked around two walks in the ninth to preserve the 4-0 margin.
The Hooks have recorded three shutouts in their last six games, permitting just eight earned runs in 53 innings for a 1.36 ERA.
Corpus Christi jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when rehabbing Astro Jason Castro sprinted home from first base on a two-out double off the bat of Corey Julks.
Castro, nursing a knee injury, went 1-for-4 while working seven innings behind the plate.
The Hooks scored their remaining runs in the third on dingers by Bryan Arias and Scott Schreiber. Arias, a product of Marshall High School in San Antonio and UTSA, swatted the first pitch he saw for a lead-off blast to right field in what was his pro debut in the Alamo City.
Schreiber capitalized on a Joe Perez walk by belting a two-run home run to right to finish the rally.
Corpus Christi aims for its fourth consecutive win Thursday night. First pitch 7:05 at Wolff Stadium.
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