Long Trip Slows Blaze, 6-1
Published on July 27, 2013 under California League (CalL1)
Bakersfield Blaze News Release
With the Bakersfield Blaze making the unenviable Modesto-to-Elsinore road trip, there seemed to be a potential for a sluggish game. Unfortunately, that potential played out, as the Lake Elsinore Storm leaped out to an early lead, and never let the Blaze cash in on opportunities in a 6-1 loss for the Bako boys on Friday night in Elsinore.
The Storm broke out to an early lead. With Mike Dennhardt (L, 6-8), like many of the Blaze, trying to shake off the cobwebs of a long night and day of travel, Lake Elsinore raced to a run in the 1st and two more in the 2nd.
The runs came across when Kyle Gaedele walked with one out in the 1st, stole second and came home on an A.J. Kirby-Jones RBI single. Then, just one frame later, the bottom two batters for the Storm singled (Lee Orr, Travis Whitmore), and Travis Jankowski doubled them home.
The host club was not done, either. After a quick 3rd inning, Lee Orr smashed a two-run homer in the 4th, putting Lake Elsinore up 5-0 less than halfway through the night.
The Blaze only run for the bulk of the game came in the 5th inning on the very first pitch. Kyle Waldrop, the team-leader in extra-base hits, extended his edge, slugging a fastball from Storm starter Bryce Morrow (W, 1-0) over the wall in deepest rightcenter for his 15th of the year, and the Blaze moved to within 5-1.
Carlos Gonzalez came on to relieve Dennhardt in the 5th, and the righty, who has been a bit hot-and-cold lately, was on the money tonight. Gonzalez fanned two in a scoreless 5th, and ended up going three innings, allowing just a 6th-inning solo homer to Jeremy Baltz.
The story in the latter stages of the game was that of missed chances. The Blaze put two runners on base in the 7th against Luis De La Cruz, and stranded them, and put two runners aboard in the 8th and 9th off Cody Hebner, and left those, too. In all, the Blaze left 10 runners on base in the game, and simply could not get that big hit to push them back into it.
Brooks Pinckard pitched a scoreless 8th for Bakersfield to finalize the box score.
The loss in the opener drops the Blaze to 12-24 in the second half and back to 24 under the 500 mark, overall, with two more to come against Lake Elsinore in southern California.
The series with the Storm continues with a special 6:05pm start time on Saturday evening, as Jonathan Moscot shoots, once again, for his second professional win. Opposing Jon is James Needy, the tall Storm righthander from Santee, California.
Saturday marks another Blaze Game of the Week - those looking to hear the Blaze action live can do so by tuning to SmartTalk AM-1230 in Kern County; across the globe, all others can hear Blaze baseball via the TuneIn Radio app on their smartphones or by heading to the Gameday Audio link at BakersfieldBlaze.com. Dan Besbris will have the call; the pregame show begins at 7:00pm, with Blaze baseball to follow.
California League Stories from July 27, 2013
- Errors Lead Lancaster to Loss - Lancaster JetHawks
- Moscot Dazzles in 10-0 Blowout Win - Bakersfield Blaze
- Ynoa Shines as Ports Beat Vogelsong, Giants 4-2 - Stockton Ports
- Stockton Powers Past Giants in Series Opener, 4-2 - San Jose Giants
- Nuts Build Early Lead, Hang on for Win - Modesto Nuts
- Despite Comeback Effort, 'Hide Fall 11-7 - Visalia Rawhide
- Keudell Throws Complete Game - Inland Empire 66ers
- JetHawks Top Quakes in Ten - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Long Trip Slows Blaze, 6-1 - Bakersfield Blaze
- Epps Helps Stellar Pitching Get Win - Lancaster JetHawks
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
