John Allen was 3-for-4 with a homer and three runs batted in as the Cats defeated Grand Prairie 9-4 in a rain-shortened game on Tuesday night at LaGrave Field.
The game was called due to rain in the top of the ninth with two outs as a heavy downpour prevented the completion of the ninth inning.
The Cats jumped out to a big 6-0 lead in the first inning with a Pat O'Sullivan two-run single, a sacrifice fly by Kelley Gulledge and a three-run homer by Isa Garcia. It was Garcia's fourth home run of the season and his first since June 16.
Cats' starter Nat Harris did not allow a run until the sixth inning when Cesar Nicolas belted a sol homer to left, his eighth of the season to make it 7-1. The Cats responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Allen.
The AirHogs narrowed the lead to 8-4 in the eighth with an RBI single by Nicolas and consecutive bases-loaded walks to Daniel Berg and Drew Holder.
Allen hit a solo homer, his 10th of the season to lead off the bottom of the eighth, giving the Cats a 9-4 advantage.
In the ninth with one out, Mike Conroy swung and missed at an 0-2 pitch, but thought he had fouled the ball off. After he was ejected from the game, Conroy, in the midst of a heavy downpour, removed first base from its moorings and carried it across the field and threw it into the third base stands, causing a delay of nearly four minutes as the infield continued to take on water.
When order was finally restored, Cesar Nicolas went to an 0-2 count with two outs before the heavy rain made it impossible to continue.
Harris (4-4) notched his second win in a Cats uniform, allowing a run on six hits in seven innings of work. Steve MacFarland, making his first start of the year for Grand Prarie, took the loss as he permitted six runs on four hits in three innings.
The series continues on Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. with Joel Kirsten going to the hill for the Cats.
