By Eli Halverson | July 12, 2025

After a tough defeat at the hands of the Lima Locos in game one, the Joes returned home to Foundation Field on Saturday night looking to even the series—and they did just that in dominant fashion.

As they’ve done so often this season, the Joes struck early. A Jaxson Christ single kicked things off in the first, and Miguel Correa followed by ripping one into the gap. He rounded second and slid into third, and after a wild throw, came all the way home for a little-league homer, giving the Joes a quick 2–0 lead and all the momentum.

That momentum only grew. After Lima got one back in the third, the Joes responded in a big way. A walk and single got the inning rolling, and an error loaded the bases with one out. Diego DeCello kept it moving with an RBI single to extend the lead, followed by an RBI hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice fly to make it 5–1 Hamilton through three.

A big reason for the Joes’ success tonight was the return to form of starting pitcher Jordan Taylor. After a couple of rough outings, Taylor bounced back in a big way against the top team in the league, tossing five innings while allowing just two hits, one unearned run, and striking out three.

Then came the knockout blow in the fifth.

Seven hits in the inning led to seven runs and put the game completely out of reach. It started with a leadoff single, a walk, and another excellent at-bat by DeCello, who drew a walk to load the bases. Mark Nowak and Jackson Wang delivered back-to-back RBI singles that cleared the bases, and then three straight doubles from Christ, Christopher Roa, and Correa made it a rout. Brett Denby capped the inning with an RBI single, stretching the lead to 12–1 after five.

The teams traded runs in the sixth, and Sam Pece closed the door with a clean seventh to seal a 13–2 mercy-rule win for the Joes.  

It can’t be understated how big this win was for the Joes.  After a game where they couldn’t get any runners in last night, they bounded back tonight and delivered in all phases of the game.  With 14 hits on the night, there were multiple standouts at the plate, along with pitcher Jordan Taylor.  Jaxson Christ (3-for-5, 2B, RBI), Miguel Correa (3-for-4, 3 R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI), and Mark Nowak (2-for-3, 3 RBI) were some of the many stars of the night for Hamilton.

The Joes will look to take the rubber match on the road Sunday night with first pitch scheduled for 5:05 PM.