Blaze Win 11-8, Surge Toward Possible Playoffs

It wasn't quite a sell-out crowd, but it was close.

On the final regular season game ever played at Sam Lynn Ballpark, more than 1,700 fans packed the facility to watch the Bakersfield Blaze open up a commanding lead, only to watch it nearly slip away but hang on for a hard-fought 11-8 win over the visiting Stockton Ports.

After back-to-back sell-outs over the weekend of 2,175 fans, the three-game set marks the largest three-game attendance for the club in recent history, and the energy was palpable.

Every fan in the ballpark had a memory to share, and as families jammed into every nook of Sam Lynn on its final regular season night, the Blaze offense brought them to their feet with a raucous display.

Two runs in the 2nd and one more in the 3rd chased Ports starter Brett Graves (L, 7-10), and a four-run 4th off reliever Corey Miller pushed Bakersfield in front comfortably, 7-0.

The Ports began to chip away in the 6th, or so they thought. Two runs came home before Zack Littell (W, 8-1) hit his pitch limit, and freshly healthy Rafael Pineda came on, surrendered one more, and then settled down.

The Blaze answered with three of their own in the home half. Chantz Mack hit a three-run jack - Austin Wilson had mashed his fifth homer in four games earlier on the night - and the Blaze went back up by seven runs, 10-3. A Justin Seager homer in the 7th made it 11-3, the largest advantage of the night.

The Ports refused to go quietly, scoring five times off Vinny Nittoli in the 8th and putting the tying runs aboard in the 9th before Thyago Vieira (S, 7) induced a strange catcher-to-thirdbase pickoff to end the game.

Though the sun sets on the regular season at Sam Lynn, forever, the hope for bonus games remains. Bakersfield currently sits 4.0 games ahead of anyone else in the North in a race for a playoff spot with just seven games to go.

And after a day off on Monday, the team embarks on a season-ending seven-game road trip through San Jose and Stockton. Dave Gascon will have the call for the week at BakersfieldBlaze.com and via TuneIn Radio.