Blaze walk off on Ports
July 16, 2011 - California League (CalL1)
Bakersfield Blaze News Release
It might take the Blaze more than 9 innings to win ballgames, but when it goes to bonus baseball, the Blaze are tough to stop. Bakersfield and Stockton again went extra innings, and for the second time in the series, the Blaze walked off on the Ports - this time, in 10 innings, by the final count of 5-4.
Stockton drew first blood for the 4th straight day, scoring tonight off Blaze starter J.C. Sulbaran on a double, a wild pitch and a grounder, but the Blaze knotted it up at 1 with a single, stolen base, grounder and a sacrifice fly off Murphy Smith.
A couple innings later, the Ports strung together 4 straight hits to take a 3-1 advantage, and though the Blaze would collect 3 hits of their own in the 5th, Bakersfield would get just a run, and trailed 3-2 heading into the 6th.
Stockton collected a much-needed insurance run on a Myrio Richard double, and the game stayed 4-2 until the bottom of the 8th. The Blaze woke up. Mike Benacka entered for the Ports, and after a grounder to begin the inning, Ryan LaMarre smashed his 5th homer of the year to make the score 4-3, and Brodie Greene immediately followed with a triple to put the tying run at 3rd. A clutch Stephen Hunt single tied the game at 4, and each team would trade a scoreless 9th.
In the 10th, Doug Salinas (W, 3-1) pitched around a 1-out double, and handed it over to his offense. In the bottom half, with devastatingly tough Josh Lansford (L, 3-4) on the hill, Ryan LaMarre again got things going, this time with a single. On a fake bunt by Greene, LaMarre stole second, and was then sacrificed to third with just 1 away. Hunt was intentionally walked to bring up Alex Buchholz, and after a long at-bat, Alex lofted a fly to medium centerfield, deep enough to score the run, and the walkoff mob took things from there.
The Blaze got back to within a game of Modesto for the Wild Card spot with the win, and now head on the road for 3 games in High Desert. All 3 will be broadcast LIVE, with tomorrow's on both internet and radio (SmartTalk-1230) - pregame show at 6:50pm, first pitch at 7:05pm.
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California League Stories from July 16, 2011
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- Blaze walk off on Ports - Bakersfield Blaze
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