JetHawks' bullpen blown up in loss at home
By ALONSO TACANGA
Valley Press Assistant Sports Editor
LANCASTER — By the time they finished a seven-game trek through High Desert and Rancho Cucamonga late Wednesday, the JetHawks had packed home 62 runs and five wins.
Quite an improvement over the 20 runs and three wins they had mustered over their previous seven games, all at The Hangar.
“Things just started to click,” JetHawks designated hitter Chase McDonald said. “It just so happened we were on the road."
The good news on Thursday against Modesto? The offense that hit nine home runs in a seven-day span made it into the bus back from Rancho, as the JetHawks put an emphatic end to its home run drought at Lancaster by blasting three in the start of a four-game series.
The bad news? It wasn’t enough to prevent a substandard night from the bullpen from dooming the JetHawks (8-7) in an 11-5 loss to the bottom-feeding Nuts (6-9).
“The bullpen didn’t have anything tonight so it’s hard for the offense to go like that for most of the game,” JetHawks manager Omar Lopez said.
After J.D. Davis hit a two-out, two-run shot off the scoreboard in left field off Modesto starter Harrison Musgrave in the bottom of the fifth, Lancaster’s second shot of the night, the JetHawks were within 4-3.
But Randall Fant, who came into the sixth in relief of JetHawks starter Blaine Sims, gave up four runs on four hits (two home runs) to put Lancaster in an 8-3 hole before getting relieved himself with two outs to go.
Tyler Brunnemann came in and got out of the inning without any further damage. He pitched 2 2/3 innings and gave up two hits, two walks and no runs with five strikeouts.
“With the exception of Brunnemann, the bullpen wasn’t able to hold the game,” Lopez said.
By the end of Brunnemann’s stint, the JetHawks had drawn within 8-5, courtesy of McDonald extending his hitting streak to 12 games with his fifth homer of the year in the sixth and an RBI double from Davis in the seventh.
In to pitch the ninth was Lancaster reliever Frederick Tiburcio, who’d only fare slightly better than Fant.
Needing a triple to hit for the cycle, Modesto second baseman Michael Benjamin — who went 4-for-6 with six RBIs — instead turned his last at-bat of the evening into his second home run of the game, this one a two-out, two-run shot off Tiburcio to put Modesto up 11-5.
Tiburcio’s final line: three runs, two hits, two walks and one strikeout in one inning.
“We were there, we were battling,” said Davis, who went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, “It’s just hard for any team to be out there on defense for a while.
“Our pitchers … it happens. It’s a California League game. One team is going to blow up the other.”
Following a nightmare start where he gave up career highs in runs (12) and earned runs (9) in only 1 1/3 innings Sunday at High Desert, Sims, a knuckleballer, was solid on Thursday.
He gave up four runs on six hits and three walks with a home run, the first of Modesto’s four on the night. He also struck out three.
“Definitely a positive,” Sims said. “Lots of good things to build on.”
Said Lopez: “The knuckleball danced a little bit more. He did solid. Being able to give us five innings for me is a solid job.”
The offense collected 10 hits and matched its highest scoring output at home with five runs, not quite the double-digit scoring it saw in four games during its road trip, but a step in the right direction.
“We were on the road and I think we kind of settled down,” Davis said.
With Jose Fernandez hitting a two-out solo shot to left field in the second inning, the first of the season for the JetHawks at home, giving them a 1-0 lead, the signs of an offense that found its rhythm showed up at The Hangar after their road trip.
Lancaster hopes that's here to stay and that the defense also settles down.
“(The offense has) been doing a good job, “ Lopez said. “They got their confidence back and they know they can score more than 2, 3, 4, 5 runs and support the pitching when we don’t have it.”
Valley Press Assistant Sports Editor
LANCASTER — By the time they finished a seven-game trek through High Desert and Rancho Cucamonga late Wednesday, the JetHawks had packed home 62 runs and five wins.
Quite an improvement over the 20 runs and three wins they had mustered over their previous seven games, all at The Hangar.
“Things just started to click,” JetHawks designated hitter Chase McDonald said. “It just so happened we were on the road."
The good news on Thursday against Modesto? The offense that hit nine home runs in a seven-day span made it into the bus back from Rancho, as the JetHawks put an emphatic end to its home run drought at Lancaster by blasting three in the start of a four-game series.
The bad news? It wasn’t enough to prevent a substandard night from the bullpen from dooming the JetHawks (8-7) in an 11-5 loss to the bottom-feeding Nuts (6-9).
“The bullpen didn’t have anything tonight so it’s hard for the offense to go like that for most of the game,” JetHawks manager Omar Lopez said.
After J.D. Davis hit a two-out, two-run shot off the scoreboard in left field off Modesto starter Harrison Musgrave in the bottom of the fifth, Lancaster’s second shot of the night, the JetHawks were within 4-3.
But Randall Fant, who came into the sixth in relief of JetHawks starter Blaine Sims, gave up four runs on four hits (two home runs) to put Lancaster in an 8-3 hole before getting relieved himself with two outs to go.
Tyler Brunnemann came in and got out of the inning without any further damage. He pitched 2 2/3 innings and gave up two hits, two walks and no runs with five strikeouts.
“With the exception of Brunnemann, the bullpen wasn’t able to hold the game,” Lopez said.
By the end of Brunnemann’s stint, the JetHawks had drawn within 8-5, courtesy of McDonald extending his hitting streak to 12 games with his fifth homer of the year in the sixth and an RBI double from Davis in the seventh.
In to pitch the ninth was Lancaster reliever Frederick Tiburcio, who’d only fare slightly better than Fant.
Needing a triple to hit for the cycle, Modesto second baseman Michael Benjamin — who went 4-for-6 with six RBIs — instead turned his last at-bat of the evening into his second home run of the game, this one a two-out, two-run shot off Tiburcio to put Modesto up 11-5.
Tiburcio’s final line: three runs, two hits, two walks and one strikeout in one inning.
“We were there, we were battling,” said Davis, who went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, “It’s just hard for any team to be out there on defense for a while.
“Our pitchers … it happens. It’s a California League game. One team is going to blow up the other.”
Following a nightmare start where he gave up career highs in runs (12) and earned runs (9) in only 1 1/3 innings Sunday at High Desert, Sims, a knuckleballer, was solid on Thursday.
He gave up four runs on six hits and three walks with a home run, the first of Modesto’s four on the night. He also struck out three.
“Definitely a positive,” Sims said. “Lots of good things to build on.”
Said Lopez: “The knuckleball danced a little bit more. He did solid. Being able to give us five innings for me is a solid job.”
The offense collected 10 hits and matched its highest scoring output at home with five runs, not quite the double-digit scoring it saw in four games during its road trip, but a step in the right direction.
“We were on the road and I think we kind of settled down,” Davis said.
With Jose Fernandez hitting a two-out solo shot to left field in the second inning, the first of the season for the JetHawks at home, giving them a 1-0 lead, the signs of an offense that found its rhythm showed up at The Hangar after their road trip.
Lancaster hopes that's here to stay and that the defense also settles down.
“(The offense has) been doing a good job, “ Lopez said. “They got their confidence back and they know they can score more than 2, 3, 4, 5 runs and support the pitching when we don’t have it.”