Ports Swing Their Way to 14-4 Win
May 16, 2013 - California League (CalL1)
Stockton Ports News Release
STOCKTON, Calif. - Coming into Thursday afternoon's ballgame, the Stockton Ports were mired in an offensive drought. That changed by game's end as the Ports scored 14 runs on 16 hits en route to a 14-4 win over the Bakersfield Blaze at Banner Island Ballpark. The Ports have now won nine of the 10 games they've played against the Blaze this season.
Bakersfield jumped out to an early 2-0 lead as they plated a pair of runs in the first inning off Ports starter Sergio Perez. With one on and one out, Juan Duran hit a two-run homer to right, his second home run in as many at-bats going back to Wednesday night's contest where he homered in the eighth inning.
Stoctkon went on to score the next six runs unanswered, beginning with a run in the first. Bobby Crocker singled to open the inning, stole second, tagged and went to third on a fly out to right, and scored on an RBI groundout by Max Muncy.
In the second, the Ports sent eight men to the plate and scored four times. With the bases loaded and two out, Crocker came up and doubled to the gap in left-center. Three runs came around to score, the third one made possible when catcher Chris Berset missed the relay throw at the plate, an error that allowed Myrio Richard to score all the way from first. Addison Russell came up next and tripled to left to score Crocker and make it a 5-2 Ports lead.
Phil Pohl led off with a double in the third and two batters later, Rashun Dixon drew a walk that knocked starter Jake Johnson (3-2) from the game. Brooks Pinckard came on in relief and walked B.A. Vollmuth to load the bases. With two outs, Pinckard issued a bases-loaded walk to Richard that ran the Ports lead to 6-2.
Johnson suffered the loss, going 2.1 innings and allowing six runs (four earned) on six hits.
Steve Selsky led off the fourth inning for the Blaze with a home run to left that cut the Bakersfield deficit to 6-3. Perez would go on to finish the fourth inning and receive a no-decision, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out a career-high eight batters.
Pinckard started the fourth inning for the Blaze by walking Russell and giving up a single to Muncy. Wes Mugarian was summoned form the bullpen and, after retiring the first two batters, gave up an infield single to Dixon. Shortstop Juan Perez made a diving stop, came up and threw high to first, an error that allowed another run to score as the Ports plated two in the inning to make it an 8-3 lead.
Seth Frankoff (2-0) came on in relief in the fifth and walked Ryan Wright to start the inning. Two batters later, Wright scored on an RBI double hit by Juan Silverio to make it an 8-4 game. It was the only run allowed by Frankoff in his lone inning of work. Frankoff picked up the win in relief for Stockton.
The Ports scored for a fifth straight inning in the fifth. Jimmy Moran came on to start the inning and loaded the bases on a Crocker single followed by back-to-back walks. Pohl came up with the bases full and delivered a sac-fly to left that made it a 9-4 game. It was the only run allowed by Moran over two innings pitched.
Stockton broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth facing Kyle McMyne. Antonio Lamas snapped a 0-for-20 slump with a single to right and Dixon followed with a two-run homer to left to bring the lead to 11-4. Two batters later, Dusty Robinson doubled to left and Crocker singled him home with two outs in the frame. Russell followed up Crocker's RBI single with a two-run homer to left, his fourth of the year, to make it a 14-4 game. McMyne allowed five runs on six hits in his lone inning of work.
Jose Macias, Omar Duran and Jonathan Joseph combined for four scoreless innings of relief after Frankoff pitched the fifth.
Crocker, hitting at the top of the order, had his first four-hit game for the Ports as he went 4-for-6, becoming the third Ports player to record at least four hits in one game (Vollmuth, Lamas). Russell went 2-for-4 with a home run, triple and thre RBI. Dixon, who made his return to Stockton from Low-A Beloit, went 2-for-3 with a home run and reached base four times.
The 14 runs and 16 hits gotten by Stockton were season high's for games played at Banner Island Ballpark. With the win, the Ports are now back at the .500 mark for the season with a 20-20 record.
The Ports and Blaze play the third game of their four-game set on Friday night at Banner Island Ballpark. Drew Granier (4-2, 2.60 ERA) heads to the bump for Stockton, opposed by Bakersfield right-hander Jonathan Moscot (0-6, 6.69 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. PDT.
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California League Stories from May 16, 2013
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