Dramatic win for Coyotes

EDINBURG - It figures that the Coyotes would need 11 innings and one very controversial call to beat Laredo 6-5 and pull within four games of a playoff spot.

Tied at 5 with the bases loaded and one out in the 11th, Edinburg outfielder Brandon McConnell flew to Laredo right fielder Dwayne White. Coyotes second baseman Eric Gonzalez tagged up from third and scored the game-winning run.

At least he might have.

At first base, Coyotes right fielder Argelis Nunez failed to tag. After Gonzalez scored, the Laredo bench implored catcher Luany Sanchez to throw to first and double off Nunez, which he did. At first, home plate umpire Dewey Larson and base umpire Kate Sargeant called Nunez out and took the run off the board, momentarily sending the game to the 12th inning.

But, after a discussion with Larson, Sargeant and Coyotes manager Vince Moore, the umpires decided that Gonzalez's run still counted because he scored before the appeal.

"Baseball's crazy huh?" Moore said. "It was good that we figured out a way to win this game. It was a big game. That puts us two games behind in the loss column, which is not bad. To get swept by them here, that would have been kind of tough."

For the Coyotes, losing because of a base-running gaffe would have been extra painful and reminiscent of a play earlier in the season. Against Harlingen in June, the Coyotes' Daryl Jones failed to tag up on what would have been a game-winning sacrifice fly in a game Edinburg went onto lose in 14 innings.

"I thought here we go again. Let's pick out another way to lose a game," Moore said. "I was upset because we had our chances (Saturday) messed up. And we tried to mess up (Sunday) too. At the beginning of the game, with the error that gave them two runs, we were able to fight back. We did it late, but better late than never."

FOUL TIPS: Reliever Julio Castro was removed from the closer's role by Moore. Castro, the Coyotes' lone All-Star, was 1-3 with a 4.76 earned-run average coming into Sunday and blew the save Saturday night. Castro will be replaced by Luke Prihoda, who was 2-0 with a 4.78 ERA before Sunday. ... Larson was hit in the fourth in the midsection by a Donlin pitch. After struggling for a few seconds, Larson got up and flexed for the crowd, which applauded. ... The Coyotes have both hit the fewest (30) home runs and allowed the fewest (45) home runs in the ULB.

Brian Sandalow covers the Edinburg Coyotes for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.