St. Pierre Strikes out 12 in 13-1 Victory
August 28, 2024 - Pioneer League (PL)
Oakland Ballers News Release
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Zach St. Pierre got the ball for Oakland against the Idaho Falls Chukars on Tuesday, struck out a season-high 12 hitters and received plenty of run support in the process. The Ballers beat the Chukars 13-1 in front of a crowd of more than 3,000 fans to open their final home series of the regular season.
For the first time this season, St. Pierre reached double-digit strikeouts in a game. He punched out 12 over seven shutout innings, yielding just four hits and two walks en route to his sixth win.
The Ballers put up a franchise-record 31 runs in St. Pierre's last start, so it's only fitting that the Oakland offense feasted in this one. Three players shone the brightest: Brett Barrera, Brett Carson and Noah Martinez.
Oakland acquired Barrera in a trade from Idaho Falls on August 17. In his first game against his former squad, Barrera delivered a pair of two-out, two-run doubles in the first three innings of the contest.
In the first, Martinez drew a two-out walk and Dondrei Hubbard singled up the middle to bring Barrera to the dish. He sent a scorched, line-drive double to center that Tyler Wyatt couldn't quite haul in to plate both Martinez and Hubbard.
Then in the third, Martinez and Hubbard each earned a two-out free pass. Barrera slapped an opposite-field two-bagger to right, doubling the Oakland lead.
After Barrera's third-inning double, Carson came to the plate. He crushed a majestic, 418-foot moonshot down the right-field line to inflate the Ballers' cushion to 6-0.
Carson would strike again in the eighth with a solo jack to right. He collected his first two-homer game of the season and 11th three-hit performance of the year.
In the fourth inning, Martinez blasted a birthday bomb, an opposite-field three-run smash. He drove in his fourth run with an RBI knock in the seventh, as the newly-minted 25-year-old pushed his RBI total to 61 on the year.
The Ballers are a season-best 17 games over .500 and have won four straight. They go for a fifth consecutive victory Wednesday, with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m. PDT. As always, you can listen on 860 AM The Answer.
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