Laundry List of Lineouts, Blaze Fall 6-2
Published on July 10, 2014 under California League (CalL1)
Bakersfield Blaze News Release
Unable to catch a break on a sunny Thursday afternoon in San Jose, the Bakersfield Blaze made a habit of bashing rockets right at the defense, and the San Jose Giants dinked and dunked their way to five early runs and an eventual 6-2 win.
Chris Stratton (W, 6-8) got the start for the Giants, and was solid out of the gate, striking out four Blaze over just the first two innings.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the box score, the Giants went to work ... sort of. Drew Cisco (L, 4-3) ends the day with a defeat, but the score could have been vastly different if lady luck had not so clearly picked an early side.
In the 1st inning, San Jose used a pop fly single, two groundouts and an infield hit for a run; in the 2nd, another infield hit followed by a high-hop triple scored a second run, and later in the inning, another blooper and another infield single plated two more for a 4-0 San Jose edge.
And the Giants added another in the 3rd on an infield hit, a groundout, a stolen base and a flyball, and despite one hard-hit ball, San Jose led 5-0.
That large deficit would prove to be too much for the slumping Blaze to overcome. Stratton began to run out of gas in the 6th, but the Giants got him out of the game before the wheels could come off.
Bakersfield scored two unearned runs in the 6th inning on David Vidal and Zach Vincej singles and a pair of Giants errors, and two hits in the 7th forced San Jose into the bullpen, but Mason McVay came on to strand the Blaze baserunners and maintain what was, at the time, a 5-2 lead.
Jimmy Moran allowed a Brian Ragira solo homer over 2.1 innings of relief for the Blaze, and Ryan Kemp finished the contest, a game that also snapped Drew Cisco's 15-start streak of lasting 5.0 innings or more.
Over the final two innings, the Blaze hit six baseballs right on the button, but four ended up as smashes right at the Giants defense, with the Blaze lining out repeatedly, and falling 6-2. Bryce Bandilla pitched the 9th for the Giants.
The loss is the fourth in a row for a Blaze team desperately in need of a few lucky strokes and a dominant pitching performance. The offense, so heavily relied upon, has struggled, scoring just 5 runs in the three game series, and a tall order ahead with a trip to Modesto's John Thurman Field on the horizon.
Thus, with the Blaze swept out of town, the team boards the bus for Modesto, where Bakersfield will take on the Nuts for four games across the weekend and into Monday.
The series opens Friday with a 7:10pm start, and a battle of lefthanders. Wandy Peralta gets the nod for the Blaze, and Jayson Aquino, his Dominican counterpart, for the Nuts.
That contest is a Friday night Game of the Week, so fans can listen to every moment of Blaze baseball live on radio and internet at SmartTalk AM-1230 locally and BakersfieldBlaze.com and TuneIn Radio across the globe. Dan Besbris has the call, with pregame show set to begin 5 minutes prior to first pitch.
California League Stories from July 10, 2014
- Giants Complete Sweep of Blaze with 6-2 Victory - San Jose Giants
- Laundry List of Lineouts, Blaze Fall 6-2 - Bakersfield Blaze
- Nuts Can't Find Two-Out Hit in 5-3 Loss - Modesto Nuts
- Bednar's Blast, Stellar Pitching Lift Giants to 5-1 Win - San Jose Giants
- 'Hawks Erase Eight Run Deficit in Comeback Win - Lancaster JetHawks
- Olson's Four RBI Lift Ports over Nuts 5-3 - Stockton Ports
- Blaze Strand Ten in 3-1 Loss - Bakersfield Blaze
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