Father's Day Brings Blaze Good Fortune in 12-3 Win
June 16, 2013 - California League (CalL1)
Bakersfield Blaze News Release
On a high-80's afternoon in Modesto, the Bakersfield Blaze rode the wave of the first grand slam of the season, beating up on the Modesto Nuts early and often, and pressing the "easy button" on their way to a 12-3 thumping.
The offense started quickly. In the top of the 1st, with two outs, Steve Selsky reached on a fielding error in rightfield, and Juan Silverio followed with a mammoth homer off Nuts starter Tyler Gagnon (L, 5-5) to right-center to put the Blaze up, 2-0.
The Nuts countered off Carlos Contreras in the bottom half, scoring on a double and single from David Kandilas and Taylor Featherston, respectively. Modesto went on to load the bases, but Carlos got out of the jam to maintain the 2-1 edge.
In the 2nd, the Blaze got hot with two outs. After a strikeout and a line drive to second, Chris Berset doubled to right, Juan Perez singled him home, and Yorman Rodriguez tripled in Perez to put the Blaze up, 4-1.
The teams exchanged zeroes for three innings before Modesto tallied a run in the 5th on a Kandilas solo homer off Carlos Gonzalez (W, 2-0). After the six early runs kept things relatively interesting, the game was decided in the 7th.
With the Nuts going to the pen, Nick Schnaitmann came on and walked Chris Berset. Juan Perez followed with a slow grounder to second base that appeared to have double-play potential. The Blaze brought their collective rabbit's foot, as the grounder hit a lump and jumped over the Modesto second baseman for a hit. Schnaitmann followed by walking Rodriguez and Steve Selsky to plate a run, and after a pitching change to Russell Brewer, Juan Silverio clubbed a grand slam home run, the first for any Blaze player this year, and Bakersfield went up comfortably, 9-2.
From there, Brooks Pinckard, Jimmy Moran and Kyle Lotzkar combined to allow just a single run over the final three innings, and the Blaze smashed its way to three more runs in the 9th (on five more hits) off Geoff Parker. The end result was a 12-3 blowout win to wrap up a series win in Modesto.
The victory brings the Blaze to 29 first half victories, which means that Bakersfield, after a rough start, closed the half on a solid 18-12 run over the final month. The team will now get a largely fresh start, with the five California League North teams vying for the second half title.
The Blaze now head into the All-Star Break, which spans Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, with the All-Star Game set to occur on Tuesday evening in San Jose. Learn more about the All-Star festivities by visiting the San Jose Giants website at sjgiants.com.
After the break, the Blaze begin a seven game homestand on Thursday evening against the High Desert Mavericks. It is, as always, Thirsty Thursday, which means beer is just one dollar, and sodas and hot dogs are discounted, from 6:45 to 8:45pm at Sam Lynn Ballpark. Great seats still remain.
Can't make it to the contest? Listen to the game live online, as Dan Besbris brings the call through the Blaze Gameday Audio online link at BakersfieldBlaze.com. The pregame show begins at 7:40pm, with Blaze baseball action to follow.
California League Stories from June 16, 2013
- 'Hide Split Series with SJ to Finish 1st Half - Visalia Rawhide
- Ports Finish Half Strong with 6-4 Win - Stockton Ports
- 66ers Wrap Best First Half Since 2007 - Inland Empire 66ers
- Nuts Drop First-Half Finale to Blaze - Modesto Nuts
- Half Ends in Series Split with Storm - Lancaster JetHawks
- Father's Day Brings Blaze Good Fortune in 12-3 Win - Bakersfield Blaze
- Kramer Sneed Added to All Star Team - Inland Empire 66ers
- Winkler Dominates as Nuts Defeat Blaze - Modesto Nuts
- Muncy's Dramatic Homer Helps Ports to 7-6 Win - Stockton Ports
- Giants Suffer 7-4 Loss To Rawhide - San Jose Giants
- 66ers Win Saturday, But WonâÃâ¬Ãâ¢t Win 1st Half - Inland Empire 66ers
- Quakes Topped in Ten - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
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