MODESTO, Calif. - Luis Castro came home on a ninth-inning balk to break a tie in a 3-2 JetHawks win over the Modesto Nuts on Saturday night at John Thurman Field. The win pushed Lancaster's winning streak to five.Castro had started the ninth with a single against reliever Joey Gerber
MODESTO, Calif. - Luis Castro came home on a ninth-inning balk to break a tie in a 3-2 JetHawks win over the Modesto Nuts on Saturday night at John Thurman Field. The win pushed Lancaster's winning streak to five.
Castro had started the ninth with a single against reliever Joey Gerber (0-2). Casey Golden followed by crushing a ball of the centerfield wall, but confusion on the bases prevented Castro from moving beyond second base. Sean Bouchard bunted the runners into scoring position before Gerber balked home the go-ahead run prior to his first pitch to Todd Czinege.
The game was locked, 2-2, from the third inning on thanks to solid starts from both starting pitchers.
Antonio Santos allowed runs in each of the first two innings before settling in to go a season-high seven frames. He allowed two runs on six hits with six strikeouts and one walk. The walk, which was issued to Anthony Jimenez to start the bottom of the seventh, was his first since April 18 and ended a streak of 22.0 innings without a walk.
Nuts (16-20) starter Ljay Newsome allowed two runs on six hits over six innings.
The JetHawks (21-16) tied the game with two runs in the third inning. Matt Hearn tripled over centerfielder Luis Liberato's head to bring Matt McLaughlin home. Carlos Herrera followed with a run-scoring double to tie it. Herrera extended his hitting streak to 12 games, the longest streak for the club this season.
Salvador Justo pitched a perfect ninth inning to pick up his fourth save and his second of the series.
Lancaster can match its best winning streak of the season with a win on Sunday afternoon. Will Gaddis is scheduled start against Nuts left-hander Ian McKinney. First pitch is 2:05 p.m.
