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CalL1 Inland Empire 66ers

66ers Sweep Day/Night Twin-Bill with Blaze

May 10, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
Inland Empire 66ers News Release


Bakersfield, CA - The 66ers left the two separate sets of crowds to, in the words of local music legend Buck Owens, "Walk the Streets of Bakersfield" smarting from a pair of losses by the hometown Blaze to Inland Empire on Saturday. The Sixers took the early portion of a split day/night doubleheader 7-4 at "Historic" Sam Lynn Ballpark and then completed the sweep in the nightcap with a 5-0 shutout of Bakersfield. The win was Inland Empire's season-best third in a row and the second shutout tallied by the 66ers in 2016.

The Sixers jumped on Blaze in game-one by scoring two runs in the first inning, one in the third and four in the third to take a 7-0 lead. The 66ers got multi-hit games from Zach Welz and Taylor Ward and two RBI from Caleb Adams on the day. Inland Empire did not have an easy go of it however, as Inland Empire had difficulty commanding the strike zone from the mound. Jeremy Rhoades got a no-decision as his pitch-count was bloated due to seven walks in 4.1 IP. Reliever Keynan Middleton (1-0) was credited with the win but he walked four men in 1.1 IP and Eduardo Paredes closed out the game with 1.1 innings to earn his third save of the year but hit a batter and walked one. In all, the Sixers staff walked a season-worst 12 men (in only a scheduled seven inning game). The staff made big pitches when they need it though as the 66ers held the Blaze to 0-for-11 with runners in scoring positon. Justin Seager hit his first homer of the year for Bakersfield in the loss. The two teams combined to walk 19 men in the game.

The 66ers broke up a scoreless game-two in the second inning when they got to Blaze (12-17) starter Eddie Campbell (2-2) for three runs in the frame. Ryan Sebra tagged an RBI double in the frame for Inland Empire (9-21) and Tim Arakawa drilled a two-RBI double to increase his hitting streak to a season-best 14 games. Inland Empire added another pair of runs in the third to push the score to 5-0. The inning was highlighted by Sixers' DH Taylor Ward's mammoth homer to left field; it was the Fresno State products first Cal League homer.

That was plenty for the 66ers pitching staff. The Sixers' scheduled starter for Sunday was their former ace Tyler Carpenter who was recently promoted to Double-A. A quartet of Sixers' relievers ably filled in as Jason Hoppe, in his Cal League debut, started and cruised through two hitless frames with three K's. Jordan Piche followed with a pair of one-hit innings and eventually was credited with the win to improve to 2-0 on the year. Nate Fury and Ronnie Muck finished the final three frames to complete the shutout and the sweep of the twin-bill. The series will continue on Monday at 7:15 pm after the teams take Mother's Day off. The contest can be heard live at 66ers.com and 1570AM KPRO.

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