Cold bats, errors doom JetHawks in loss to Rancho
June 5, 2015
By ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
LANCASTER — All JetHawks starter Troy Scribner needed was one final out to depart feeling like a rock star of sorts on Friday night.
In his way stood a 6-foot-3, 245-pound Dodger from Cuba on his second day of a rehab assignment.
Yeah, that one.
“I tried to throw an outside fastball and I missed over the plate and he did what he does,” Scribner said of his one pitch gone awry against Yasiel Puig during a 4-1 JetHawks’ loss to the Quakes (33-21). “I’m not going to think on it too much.”
Scribner’s line prior to Puig’s two-out at-bat in the fifth inning: three hits, two walks, two runs (0 earned) and four strikeouts.
After Puig sent the righty’s pitch beyond center field to nearly Avenue I, Scribner had his first earned run of the night.
It would be the only one of the night against the JetHawks (28-26), whose inability to solve Rancho Cucamonga pitching cost them the second game of a crucial four-game set.
“When the game is on the line, we got to play defense and be relaxed at the plate and stick to our approach and not make their pitchers look better,” JetHawks manager Omar Lopez said. “Obviously they had great pitching and you have to tip your hat to them.”
Even after Puig did to him what he does to so many everyday major-league starters, Scribner was deserving of some praise as well. The right-hander added a walk to his line before getting the last out of the fifth inning, lowering his ERA to 4.43.
“It was good to kind of get into a groove and feel good and confident with my stuff today,” Scribner said.
JetHawks tandem starter Adrian Houser was also solid, finishing out the last four innings by giving up three hits, one unearned run and no walks while striking out four.
The loss pushed the JetHawks five games behind the Cal League South-leading Quakes in the standings with 16 games to go in the first half of the season. Lancaster doesn’t play Rancho again after the next two games.
In the end, the three unearned runs, which came on two of A.J. Reed’s three errors on the night, were the difference in the game.
Leading 1-0 after J.D. Davis homered for only the second time in his last 20 games in the first inning, the JetHawks fell behind after Paul Hoenecke, the would-be last out of the top of the second, reached first on a missed tossed from Reed to Scribner at the bag.
Rob Garvey’s subsequent two-run single gave the Quakes the lead for good.
Puig’s shot made it 3-1 before another two-out error by Reed allowed Travis Witherspoon to reach first and Tyler Ogle to score in the top of the ninth.
“Errors are going to happen. You just try to limit them,” Reed said. “I didn’t do a very good job of that tonight.
“You just got to tell yourself you’re going to make the next play and do your best.”
Known for their explosive offensive that’s featured multiple double-digit scoring games this season, the JetHawks collected seven hits, but all of them came in different innings.
Lancaster made it interesting in the ninth, as catcher Alfredo Gonzalez led off with a double before James Ramsay drew a walk. But the next three JetHawks were retired in order by Daniel Tillman, who got the save.
Brett Phillips and Derek Fisher, batting first and second in the lineup, respectively, went 0-for-10.
“I’m pleased with the pitching,” Lopez said. “That’s the tough part of this game, you pitch, you don’t hit and you don’t play defense. Sometimes we hit and we don’t pitch. It’s hard to put those three areas of the game together.”
Quakes starter Jharel Cotton gave up a run on three hits and three walks and struck out six in 4.1 innings. Michael Johnson relieved him and gave up one hit in three innings before Tillman closed it out.
Puig, who finished 1-for-4 with a walk while getting caught stealing, isn’t expected to be with the Quakes today nor Sunday. For what it's worth, his swing seemed OK enough for him to go back to Los Angeles.
In the midst of a positive outing, Scribner can attest to that, not that he’ll lose any sleep over it.
“He does that stuff,” he said.
By ALONSO TACANGA/Valley Press
LANCASTER — All JetHawks starter Troy Scribner needed was one final out to depart feeling like a rock star of sorts on Friday night.
In his way stood a 6-foot-3, 245-pound Dodger from Cuba on his second day of a rehab assignment.
Yeah, that one.
“I tried to throw an outside fastball and I missed over the plate and he did what he does,” Scribner said of his one pitch gone awry against Yasiel Puig during a 4-1 JetHawks’ loss to the Quakes (33-21). “I’m not going to think on it too much.”
Scribner’s line prior to Puig’s two-out at-bat in the fifth inning: three hits, two walks, two runs (0 earned) and four strikeouts.
After Puig sent the righty’s pitch beyond center field to nearly Avenue I, Scribner had his first earned run of the night.
It would be the only one of the night against the JetHawks (28-26), whose inability to solve Rancho Cucamonga pitching cost them the second game of a crucial four-game set.
“When the game is on the line, we got to play defense and be relaxed at the plate and stick to our approach and not make their pitchers look better,” JetHawks manager Omar Lopez said. “Obviously they had great pitching and you have to tip your hat to them.”
Even after Puig did to him what he does to so many everyday major-league starters, Scribner was deserving of some praise as well. The right-hander added a walk to his line before getting the last out of the fifth inning, lowering his ERA to 4.43.
“It was good to kind of get into a groove and feel good and confident with my stuff today,” Scribner said.
JetHawks tandem starter Adrian Houser was also solid, finishing out the last four innings by giving up three hits, one unearned run and no walks while striking out four.
The loss pushed the JetHawks five games behind the Cal League South-leading Quakes in the standings with 16 games to go in the first half of the season. Lancaster doesn’t play Rancho again after the next two games.
In the end, the three unearned runs, which came on two of A.J. Reed’s three errors on the night, were the difference in the game.
Leading 1-0 after J.D. Davis homered for only the second time in his last 20 games in the first inning, the JetHawks fell behind after Paul Hoenecke, the would-be last out of the top of the second, reached first on a missed tossed from Reed to Scribner at the bag.
Rob Garvey’s subsequent two-run single gave the Quakes the lead for good.
Puig’s shot made it 3-1 before another two-out error by Reed allowed Travis Witherspoon to reach first and Tyler Ogle to score in the top of the ninth.
“Errors are going to happen. You just try to limit them,” Reed said. “I didn’t do a very good job of that tonight.
“You just got to tell yourself you’re going to make the next play and do your best.”
Known for their explosive offensive that’s featured multiple double-digit scoring games this season, the JetHawks collected seven hits, but all of them came in different innings.
Lancaster made it interesting in the ninth, as catcher Alfredo Gonzalez led off with a double before James Ramsay drew a walk. But the next three JetHawks were retired in order by Daniel Tillman, who got the save.
Brett Phillips and Derek Fisher, batting first and second in the lineup, respectively, went 0-for-10.
“I’m pleased with the pitching,” Lopez said. “That’s the tough part of this game, you pitch, you don’t hit and you don’t play defense. Sometimes we hit and we don’t pitch. It’s hard to put those three areas of the game together.”
Quakes starter Jharel Cotton gave up a run on three hits and three walks and struck out six in 4.1 innings. Michael Johnson relieved him and gave up one hit in three innings before Tillman closed it out.
Puig, who finished 1-for-4 with a walk while getting caught stealing, isn’t expected to be with the Quakes today nor Sunday. For what it's worth, his swing seemed OK enough for him to go back to Los Angeles.
In the midst of a positive outing, Scribner can attest to that, not that he’ll lose any sleep over it.
“He does that stuff,” he said.