Grand Night for Castro, Surging JetHawks
Published on July 10, 2012 under California League (CalL1)
Lancaster JetHawks News Release
LANCASTER, CA - In a home stand that saw Domingo Santana and George Springer make offensive headlines, Erik Castro waited until the final game for his moment in the spotlight. The first baseman blasted two home runs, including a go-ahead grand slam, to lead the JetHawks to an 8-5 victory and sweep of the Stockton Ports at The Hangar on Monday.
With the score tied 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh, the Ports elected to have south paw reliever Jeff Urlaub walk Springer intentionally to load the bases for Castro. The left-handed hitter lined the first pitch over the right field fence for his second home run of the night and his first grand slam of the season.
Urlaub (0-1), who had not allowed a run in five appearances this season, started the inning by giving up a triple to Enrique Hernandez. The next hitter, Rafael Valenzuela, hit a shot down the third base line that was fielded by B.A. Vollmuth who tagged Hernandez out trying to dive back into third. Rene Garcia followed with a single and Alex Todd came up and singled home Valenzuela to tie the game. Grant Hogue sacrificed the runners over preceding Springer's walk.
The JetHawks had taken a lead in the fifth inning on Castro's first homer of the game. After four and a half scoreless innings, the first baseman went deep off reliever Nate Long for the game's first run.
Lancaster added two more runs in the inning. Domingo Santana walked and Meyer reached on a Chad Oberacker error in center field to set the stage for a Hernandez RBI-single and Garcia RBI-groundout to put the JetHawks up 3-0.
The Ports responded by taking the lead with four runs in the sixth inning off of starter David Martinez. The right-hander, who had cruised along with six strikeouts over five scoreless innings, gave up a leadoff single to Chad Oberacker who was then moved to third on an Alex Todd error. Beau Taylor knocked in the Ports first run and later in the inning Michael Gilmartin punched a two-run double into the left field corner to give the Ports the lead.
Martinez did not factor into the decision. He allowed four runs - one earned - with eight strikeouts over six innings of work. Kirk Clark (4-4) pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the victory. He struck out two and did not allow a hit.
The JetHawks finished the with a season-high 15 runners left on base. The team left the bases loaded four times in the game and went 6-for-22 with runners in scoring position. Springer went 0-for-5 to snap his hitting streak at 16 games. Santana went 1-for-4 to match Springer's streak.
The JetHawks (9-10, 46-43) will travel to Visalia after an off day on Tuesday to begin a three game series. First pitch from Rawhide Ballpark is at 7:00 pm. Zach Grimmett will start against Andrew Chafin.
Great JetHawks ticket packages and single game tickets are on sale now. Special group discounts are also available. For more information please visit www.jethawks.com or call the JetHawks box office at (661) 726-5400.
California League Stories from July 10, 2012
- 66ers 5,000th Facebook Fan Wins 5,000 Free Hot Dogs - Inland Empire 66ers
- Grand Night for Castro, Surging JetHawks - Lancaster JetHawks
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