JetHawks: Some firsts as Lancaster splits doubleheader vs. Ports
LANCASTER — The winds in the 25-40 mph range on Tuesday, the JetHawks got an unexpected day off when manager Omar Lopez and general manager William Thornhill decided against playing the second of three games against Stockton in gusty conditions.
“That’s a first,” JetHawks first baseman A.J. Reed said.
Playing a Wednesday doubleheader they went on to split, the JetHawks picked up a few more of those, and it didn’t include a home run. Although J.D. Davis came close.
But care they do not as long as they see improvement, which they did during a 5-1 win in the first of two seven-inning games against the Ports.
“It’s development,” JetHawks manager Omar Lopez said. “It’s not just about ‘we want to win.’ We want to win if we do everything the right way. That’s all.”
The JetHawks did it by jumping on Stockton from the start, leading 2-0 after the first inning. It was the first time in six games Lancaster, which had won its previous two games on walk-offs, had led while the game was still underway.
Batting third and on two days of rest after sitting out Monday’s 13-4 series-opening loss to Stockton, Davis drove in leadoff hitter Brett Phillips with a blooper to center field for the first run of a long day at The Hangar.
“I understand they put me on the bench and everything but (Lopez) just wanted me to settle down and I think that really helped,” Davis said.
The extra time off seemed to pay dividends. Davis, who through the season’s first four games was 4-for-15 with an RBI and four strikeouts, went 3-for-3 (his first multi-hit game of the year) with a double and picked up two RBIs charged to Ports starter Dylan Covey.
Davis' batting average went from .200 to .388 through six games.
“I was rushing the first couple of games and I just talked to (Lopez) and (hitting coach Darryl Robinson), just really calming myself down,” Davis said.
Davis’ final hit of game one, a single to center field, drove in Chan Moon and made it 5-0 JetHawks in the fifth inning.
Lancaster starting pitcher Edison Frias, who gave up two hits and no runs with four strikeouts in four innings during Thursday’s Opening Night game, was outstanding again. He gave up one hit and two walks with five strikeouts in five shutout innings to pick up his second win.
“Everything was good. I felt good,” Frias said.
Also during game 1: Moon, who went 1-for-3, stole his first base and second baseman Jack Mayfield got his first hit of the season.
Pitcher Adrian Houser played in his first game of the year, entering in the sixth inning. He was unable to get out of it, however.
The right-hander, ranked as the 25th-best prospect in the Astros system by MLBPipeline.com, started his Lancaster tenure by giving up a leadoff double to J.P. Sportman. After Franklin Barreto reached first on an error and John Nogowski walked, Michael Soto put the Ports on the board with an RBI groundout.
Houser walked outfielder Tyler Marincov next to reload the bases, ending his night.
Tyler Brunnemann, who got out of a two-on, one-out jam unscathed on Opening night, came in to face Justin Higley. The left fielder hit a weak grounder to Mayfield, who tagged Marincov on his way to second and then tossed the ball to Chase McDonald at first for the inning-ending double play.
Brunnemann worked a scoreless seventh to pick up the save, the first of the season for the JetHawks.
Phillips ended an 0-for-13 streak with a leadoff single to left field in the first against Covey, who gave up all five runs on six hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings.
McDonald went 1-for-2 with a walk. His double in the fourth inning drove in Davis, giving Lancaster a 3-0 lead, and moved Reed to third with no outs.
Brian Holberton next drew a walk to load the bases, and Ports coaches decided to pay Covey a mound visit.
The move paid off. Covey, who threw 29 pitches in the inning, got Mayfield to ground into a double play, scoring Reed, and then did the same to Ronnie Mitchell to get out of the fourth with his team down 4-0,
But with the JetHawks only allowing three hits in seven innings, the Ports had no chance to win the opener.
The JetHawks would go on to give up more hits in the seventh inning of the second game alone than in all of the first, however, killing their chances to rally during a 7-3 loss that gave the Ports the series win.
Relieving game 2 starter Brian Holmes, who gave up five runs on three hits and a walk while striking out six in five innings, Ambiorix De Leon tossed a scoreless sixth before Stockton punished him in the seventh.
A double, a walk, a single, another double and a triple by Stockton turned a 3-2 deficit into a 7-2 one for the JetHawks and De Leon departed, giving way to Chris Cotton to finish the frame.
Cotton retired the next three batters, including the last two on strikeouts, stranding Michael Soto at third base.
The JetHawks got a run back in the bottom of the seventh when Davis came within inches of hitting his team’s first homer of the year with one out and the bases loaded. It would only be a sac fly to left field, scoring Jose Fernandez.
Reed struck out to end the night.
Jobduan Morales went 3-for-3 and Fernandez went 2-for-3.
Lancaster starts a four-game road series against High Desert today. They’ll follow that with a three-game series at Rancho Cucamonga before coming back for the start of a four-game series against Modesto on April 23.
Catch you next time
The Ports brought along a countryman of JetHawks manager Omar Lopez when they got into town on Monday: Venezuelan shortstop Franklin Barreto.
The 19-year-old, who hit his team’s third homer of the evening during the series opener Monday, is ranked as the Oakland Athletics’ top prospect by Baseball America.
“It’s kind of exciting to have a ‘compadre’ from my country and have a chance to see him play,” Lopez said before the series started. “Of course I’d like to meet him, see if we can talk a little bit more, just see how’s the kid.”
With Tuesday’s game postponement throwing a curveball into both teams’ schedules, Lopez was unable to have a sit-down with the shortstop, who came to Oakland in the trade that sent Josh Donaldson to Toronto for third baseman Brett Lawrie.
“I saw (Barreto) briefly in the (batting) cages and just asked him what part of Venezuela he’s from and (that was it),” Lopez said on Wednesday. “We’ll see him more later in the season.
The JetHawks, who have a Venezuelan player of their own in outfielder Danry Vaquez, play a four-game series at Stockton from May 4-7.
“That’s a first,” JetHawks first baseman A.J. Reed said.
Playing a Wednesday doubleheader they went on to split, the JetHawks picked up a few more of those, and it didn’t include a home run. Although J.D. Davis came close.
But care they do not as long as they see improvement, which they did during a 5-1 win in the first of two seven-inning games against the Ports.
“It’s development,” JetHawks manager Omar Lopez said. “It’s not just about ‘we want to win.’ We want to win if we do everything the right way. That’s all.”
The JetHawks did it by jumping on Stockton from the start, leading 2-0 after the first inning. It was the first time in six games Lancaster, which had won its previous two games on walk-offs, had led while the game was still underway.
Batting third and on two days of rest after sitting out Monday’s 13-4 series-opening loss to Stockton, Davis drove in leadoff hitter Brett Phillips with a blooper to center field for the first run of a long day at The Hangar.
“I understand they put me on the bench and everything but (Lopez) just wanted me to settle down and I think that really helped,” Davis said.
The extra time off seemed to pay dividends. Davis, who through the season’s first four games was 4-for-15 with an RBI and four strikeouts, went 3-for-3 (his first multi-hit game of the year) with a double and picked up two RBIs charged to Ports starter Dylan Covey.
Davis' batting average went from .200 to .388 through six games.
“I was rushing the first couple of games and I just talked to (Lopez) and (hitting coach Darryl Robinson), just really calming myself down,” Davis said.
Davis’ final hit of game one, a single to center field, drove in Chan Moon and made it 5-0 JetHawks in the fifth inning.
Lancaster starting pitcher Edison Frias, who gave up two hits and no runs with four strikeouts in four innings during Thursday’s Opening Night game, was outstanding again. He gave up one hit and two walks with five strikeouts in five shutout innings to pick up his second win.
“Everything was good. I felt good,” Frias said.
Also during game 1: Moon, who went 1-for-3, stole his first base and second baseman Jack Mayfield got his first hit of the season.
Pitcher Adrian Houser played in his first game of the year, entering in the sixth inning. He was unable to get out of it, however.
The right-hander, ranked as the 25th-best prospect in the Astros system by MLBPipeline.com, started his Lancaster tenure by giving up a leadoff double to J.P. Sportman. After Franklin Barreto reached first on an error and John Nogowski walked, Michael Soto put the Ports on the board with an RBI groundout.
Houser walked outfielder Tyler Marincov next to reload the bases, ending his night.
Tyler Brunnemann, who got out of a two-on, one-out jam unscathed on Opening night, came in to face Justin Higley. The left fielder hit a weak grounder to Mayfield, who tagged Marincov on his way to second and then tossed the ball to Chase McDonald at first for the inning-ending double play.
Brunnemann worked a scoreless seventh to pick up the save, the first of the season for the JetHawks.
Phillips ended an 0-for-13 streak with a leadoff single to left field in the first against Covey, who gave up all five runs on six hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings.
McDonald went 1-for-2 with a walk. His double in the fourth inning drove in Davis, giving Lancaster a 3-0 lead, and moved Reed to third with no outs.
Brian Holberton next drew a walk to load the bases, and Ports coaches decided to pay Covey a mound visit.
The move paid off. Covey, who threw 29 pitches in the inning, got Mayfield to ground into a double play, scoring Reed, and then did the same to Ronnie Mitchell to get out of the fourth with his team down 4-0,
But with the JetHawks only allowing three hits in seven innings, the Ports had no chance to win the opener.
The JetHawks would go on to give up more hits in the seventh inning of the second game alone than in all of the first, however, killing their chances to rally during a 7-3 loss that gave the Ports the series win.
Relieving game 2 starter Brian Holmes, who gave up five runs on three hits and a walk while striking out six in five innings, Ambiorix De Leon tossed a scoreless sixth before Stockton punished him in the seventh.
A double, a walk, a single, another double and a triple by Stockton turned a 3-2 deficit into a 7-2 one for the JetHawks and De Leon departed, giving way to Chris Cotton to finish the frame.
Cotton retired the next three batters, including the last two on strikeouts, stranding Michael Soto at third base.
The JetHawks got a run back in the bottom of the seventh when Davis came within inches of hitting his team’s first homer of the year with one out and the bases loaded. It would only be a sac fly to left field, scoring Jose Fernandez.
Reed struck out to end the night.
Jobduan Morales went 3-for-3 and Fernandez went 2-for-3.
Lancaster starts a four-game road series against High Desert today. They’ll follow that with a three-game series at Rancho Cucamonga before coming back for the start of a four-game series against Modesto on April 23.
Catch you next time
The Ports brought along a countryman of JetHawks manager Omar Lopez when they got into town on Monday: Venezuelan shortstop Franklin Barreto.
The 19-year-old, who hit his team’s third homer of the evening during the series opener Monday, is ranked as the Oakland Athletics’ top prospect by Baseball America.
“It’s kind of exciting to have a ‘compadre’ from my country and have a chance to see him play,” Lopez said before the series started. “Of course I’d like to meet him, see if we can talk a little bit more, just see how’s the kid.”
With Tuesday’s game postponement throwing a curveball into both teams’ schedules, Lopez was unable to have a sit-down with the shortstop, who came to Oakland in the trade that sent Josh Donaldson to Toronto for third baseman Brett Lawrie.
“I saw (Barreto) briefly in the (batting) cages and just asked him what part of Venezuela he’s from and (that was it),” Lopez said on Wednesday. “We’ll see him more later in the season.
The JetHawks, who have a Venezuelan player of their own in outfielder Danry Vaquez, play a four-game series at Stockton from May 4-7.