Knuckleballer Yoshida Goes Four Innings; Outlaws Win 8-4
June 13, 2010 - Golden Baseball League (GBL)
Chico Outlaws News Release
(Chico, CA. June 12th, 2010) The fans were not disappointed on Saturday night, many staying after the game was over to try and get a glimpse and maybe a picture of the cute 18-year old female knuckleballer from Japan.
Eri Yoshida made her second start in the United States as a professional in front of a standing-room only crowd at Nettleton Stadium and took on the first place team from the Golden Baseball Leagues South Division, the Yuma Scorpions.
Going four innings, the crowd got revved up when Yoshida came out of the dugout in the bottom of the fourth inning with her batting helmet on and it looked like manager Garry Templeton was going to let her hit for herself and maybe go back out for a fifth inning of work. The crowd came back down to earth when Yoshida headed back to the dugout for pinch-hitter John Urick, ending her night before her second at-bat of the night. In her first start against Tijuana back on May 29th, Yoshida worked three innings, so she stretched out an inning in her second outing.
Allowing just two runs, only one earned, on four hits and two walks, Eri delighted the crowd with her third-inning strikeout of Scorpions right-fielder Timothy Rodriguez, the GBL's leading RBI man on a big swing and a miss. Yoshida did get caught looking for a strikeout in her only at-bat of the night with two runners on base and one out in the second inning.
Yuma's second baseman Eric Scriven led off the bottom of the first inning and was hit in the left hip from the right-handed batter's box to put a runner on-base. Two batters later, veteran infielder Santo De Leon made Yoshida pay for that mistake by singling home Scriven to give the Scorpions a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second inning, Chico took the lead with three runs. Mikael Jova led off with a single, extending his hit streak to eight games. Third baseman Ismael Castro then extended his own hitting streak to 13 games with a second consecutive single to put two runners on. After a walk to Rich Janeway, catcher Robby Alcombrack then hit a two-RBI single to plate Jova and Castro. Two batters later, Blake Gailen hit an RBI single to drive in Janeway and it was 3-1 Outlaws.
The Scorpions got a solo run after Masjid Khairy hit a single and then stole second. Yuma catcher Bubba Garcia then hit a ball to Outlaws shortstop Alex Prieto, who misplayed the ball, allowing Khairy to score. The game was 3-2 Outlaws at that point.
Chico plated two more runs in the bottom of the fourth when Alcombrack and Prieto singled to start the inning. John Urick, a former New York Yankees farmhand, pinch-hit for Yoshida, and sent Alcombrack home with a groundout to second. Gailen then launched his fourth homerun of the year over the left field fence to give the Outlaws a 5-2 lead.
Once again the Scorpions battled to stay in the game, getting a run back in the top of the fifth inning. Scriven was again in the thick of things, walking to lead off the inning and advancing to third after an errant pick-off play by Outlaws reliever Demetrius Banks gave him two bags to third base. Two batters later, De Leon hit his second RBI single of the game, putting the Scorpions back to within two runs.
In the top of the seventh, Yuma got one more run after Scriven singled to lead off the frame, advanced to second on a Ron Perodin single, then scored on an RBI double by Tim Rodriguez. This closed the gap to one run at 5-4 Outlaws.
The Outlaws got two more runs in the seventh. Gailen was hit by a pitch and Bobby Hill walked, driving Yuma starter Gilbert De La Vara (3-1) out of the game. Castro then stroked a two-RBI single to score both runners, making it 7-4.
One additional run came in the bottom of the eighth inning when Prieto started the inning with a single and was sacrificed over to second by Justin Segal, who reached base because of a throwing error by Jordan Muir, the Scorpions reliever. Three batters later after two outs and a walk loaded the bases, Jova got his second hit of the night to drive in Prieto to make the final score 8-4.
Banks (3-0) pitched three and a third innings in relief of Yoshida to get the win, giving up two runs (one earned), on five hits, a walk and seven strikeouts. Segal pitched two-thirds of an inning to close out the eighth inning and Matt Perisho pitched the ninth for a second consecutive game to finish the game.
The Outlaws improved to a league best 16-4 on the year, while Yuma dropped to 14-7 on the year. Both teams stay in first place in their respective divisions.
Yoshida will make her first road trip of the year as the Outlaws leave Sunday night for a seven-day, six-game road trip in Arizona. Chico plays a three-game set in Yuma this coming Tuesday-Thursday and then make the short drive to Tucson for a weekend three-game set Jun 18-20th at Hi Corbett Field against the Toros.
All six games of the roadtrip will be broadcast live on Justin.TV. Fans can watch/listen to the game live on www.justin.tv.com/chicooutlawsbaseball and hear the game on www.chicooutlaws.com as Dan Hawkins brings you Outlaws baseball live.
OUTLAWS NOTES:....Former Chico OF Daniel Nava made his major league debut on Saturday with the Boston Red Sox and delivered in a big way with a grand-slam homerun off the Phillies' Joe Blanton in the bottom of the second inning at Fenway Park on the very first pitch he saw in the majors....the game was broadcast nationally on Fox and the broadcast crew of Dick Stockton and Tim McCarver mentioned the Chico Outlaws on several occasions.....Yoshida threw 79 pitches in the game, 45 of them for strikes.....Coming into today's game, the Outlaws as a team led the GBL in batting average (.329) and team ERA (2.93), the only team with an under-3 ERA in the league.
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Golden Baseball League Stories from June 13, 2010
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- Seals Shut Out at Foothills, 1-0 - Victoria Seals
- Caps Win See Saw Battle - Edmonton Capitals
- Bannister Pitches a Gem in 2-1 Victory - Tucson Toros
- Knuckleballer Yoshida Goes Four Innings; Outlaws Win 8-4 - Chico Outlaws
- Flyers Road Trip Lasts a Few Extra Innings - Orange County Flyers
- Toros Edge St. George in Pitcher's Duel - St. George RoadRunners
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