Stockton Ports Have Losing Streak for First Time in Over a Month After Loss to Visalia Oaks

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – STOCKTON, Calif. - When a team wins 21 of 25 games, it’s hard to picture them dropping two straight. The Stockton Ports, however, have now lost back-to-back contests for the first time in nearly a month after dropping Thursday’s game to the Visalia Oaks by a final of 10-4. After getting pounded 14-0 on Tuesday night, the Oaks rebounded to take the final two games of the series.
 
In the bottom of the first, it looked as if it might be another blowout win for Stockton. The Ports loaded the bases against Oaks starter Cesar Valdez (4-2), and Darryl Lawhorn came through with a two-out, bases clearing triple to give Stockton a 3-0 lead. Frank Martinez followed with an RBI single to make it 4-0. Lawhorn has now hit in 14 of the 17 games he’s appeared in on the season.
 
As it turned out, that would be Stockton’s only productive inning on the night. Ports starter Brett Anderson (5-2), after tossing a scoreless first, ran into trouble in the second. Pete Clifford led off with a double, and three batters later, came home on a double from Steve Mena to make it 4-1.
 
In the third, Batten led off with his first home run of the season--and it was very unconventional. Batten hit a deep fly ball to center that got past the diving attempt of Archie Gilbert and rolled all the way to the wall. Batten, with great speed, came around to score on an inside-the-park home run to cut the Ports lead in half at 4-2.
 
Anderson would suffer his worst inning in the fifth. Pedro Ciriaco led off with a single to center, and Gerardo Parra followed with an infield single. The next batter--Ricardo Sosa--hit his seventh home run of the season, a three-run shot over the left field wall to give the Oaks a 5-4 lead. Anderson then hit Pete Clifford, who stole second, went to third on a ground ball, and eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-4. Anderson went six full innings and took his second loss of the season, allowing six runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out three.
 
While the Oaks offense was rallying, Valdez, Visalia’s starter, was dealing. After allowing four runs in the first, Valdez allowed just one more hit--a double to Gilbert in the second. After that, he retired 13 of the next 14 batters he faced, the only unretired one reaching on a fielding error. He earned the win after going 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on five hits while striking out five.
 
The Oaks added two runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth off Ports reliever Jose Fragoso to make it 10-4.
 
Visalia’s bullpen picked up where Valdez left off. Kyle Wright, Jorge Perez, and Josh Ellis combined for 3.1 innings of scoreless relief. Following Gilbert’s double in the second inning, only three men reached base--two on fielding errors on Sosa, and a hit batsmen in the ninth.
 
With his double in the second inning, Gilbert extended his hitting streak to 22 games.
 
Following a 4-2 homestand, the Ports will pack up and head south for seven games, beginning with a game in Bakersfield on Friday night. Right-hander Trevor Cahill (4-0, 2.25 ERA) will try and end the rare Ports losing skid. He’ll be opposed by left-hander Kasey Kiker (1-0, 6.20 ERA) for the Blaze. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m. PST from Sam Lynn Ballpark.
 

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