Weather forced him to wait a day, but Big Island native Kolten Wong officially took the next step in his road to the show Friday with a productive start in Memphis.
Wong batted 1-for-3 with a single, RBI, and a run scored in the Memphis Cardinals’ 9-0 victory over the Oklahoma City RedHawks in game one of a doubleheader at Autozone Park. In game two, Wong picked up a hit in four at bats and scored a run in the Redbirds’ 8-4 loss to Oklahoma City.
The Kamehameha-Hawai`i graduate’s lone hit in the opening contest came in an eight-run fifth inning that broke the seven-inning contest open. His infield single to the right side of the diamond, scoring catcher Rob Johnson. He batted second in the lineup, behind speedy center fielder Adron Chambers.
He found himself in the same spot in the lineup for the second game of the doubleheader, but struggled to get going at the plate. He flew out in the first and fifth innings and grounded out in the third frame. But, in the seventh inning, following a Chambers double, Wong matched his teammate’s extra base hit with a double of his own, scoring Chambers. The hit cut Oklahoma City’s lead to 8-4 with one out and opened up a big inning. He scored on the next at bat when Brock Peterson singled through the middle of the diamond, making the score 8-5. The four run inning still left the Redbirds a run short when Jermaine Curtis flew out with the tying and winning runs left on base.
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Through two games, Wong is hitting .286 (2-for-7) with two runs batted in and two runs scored.
The opening series of the season for the Redbirds continues Saturday at 1:05 p.m. Hawai`i time when they face the RedHawks in the third game of the four-game set. The final game is slated for Sunday at 8:35 a.m. HST.
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