Adrian Cardenas Knocks in Winning Run in 11h to Give Stockton Ports 5-4 Win Over Bakersfield Blaze

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MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - STOCKTON , Calif . - In his first home game as a member of the Stockton Ports, Adrian Cardenas discovered the best way to endear himself to the home fans. With two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning and the winning run at third, Cardenas blooped a single into center field to give the Ports a 5-4 walk-off win over the Bakersfield Blaze at Banner Island Ballpark. The walk-off win comes just one night after a gut-wrenching walk-off loss at the hands of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.

It was the Blaze who drew first blood in the top of the first. Ports starter Jason Fernandez was finding difficulty getting settled in early on. After two walks, Fernandez allowed a two-out RBI single to Truan Mehl, scoring Renny Osuna and giving the Blaze a 1-0 lead.

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The Ports countered in the bottom of the first with some offense of their own. Archie Gilbert led off with a double off Blaze starter Glenn Swanson. Josh Horton followed with an RBI single to center, scoring Gilbert to tie the ballgame. Four batters later, with two out, Josh Donaldson brought Horton home with an RBI single to right to give Stockton a 2-1 lead.

Those two runs were the only two allowed by Swanson in his first start with Bakersfield since undergoing Tommy John Surgery last year. Swanson received a no-decision, allowing eight hits while striking out seven.

Fernandez would make one giant mistake in his outing on Friday night. With one out in the fifth, Fernandez issued back-to-back walks to Osuna and Chad Tracy. The walks were followed by a three-run homer from Ian Gac, putting the Blaze on top 4-2. Those were the final runs allowed by Fernandez, who went five innings and allowed four runs on five hits while walking five and striking out three.

Stockton ’s offense was kept quiet by the Blaze bullpen until the eighth inning. With John Bannister on the hill, and with one on and one out, Corey Brown tied the game with a two-run homer to right-center. It was Brown’s third home run in his 14th game with Stockton since being promoted from Low-A Kane County. Those were the only two runs allowed by Bannister who pitched the eighth and ninth for the Blaze.

The Blaze were kept off the scoreboard the rest of the way following Gac’s home run in the fifth. Derrick Gordon, Branden Dewing, Pat Currin, and James Heuser (8-1) combined for six scoreless innings of relief.

In the bottom of the 11th, Blaze reliever Jordan Stewart (5-4), who’d pitched a perfect 10th, gave up a one-out single to Matt Sulentic. Stewart then walked Gilbert to put the winning run in scoring position with one out. Following a Carlos Arrieche groundout, Cardenas came through with his second and largest hit of the night--a game-winning RBI single to center to give the Ports a 5-4 win. It was Cardenas’ third RBI in two games as he had two on Thursday night. Stewart would take the loss for the Blaze, while Heuser, who tossed a 1-2-3 11th, would pick up his eighth win.

The Ports and Blaze will continue their three-game set on Saturday night at Banner Island Ballpark. Graham Godfrey (4-4, 5.75 ERA) will head to the bump for Stockton, opposed by right-hander Tanner Roark (1-0, 1.29 ERA) for Bakersfield. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. PDT.

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