Skid Stopped; Blaze Beat Rawhide in Opener, 4-2
The sun of the afternoon finally proved a good omen on Monday, as the Bakersfield Blaze rode seven sterling innings from Daniel Renken to a 2-1 victory over the host Visalia Rawhide.
The game started poorly, but turned from there. In the bottom of the first inning, with the game scoreless, the Rawhide's Mark Freeman doubled, and Chris Owings slugged a 2-run homer. From there, it was all Renken (W, 2-0). Renken retired 14 in a row at one point, struck out 8, and walked just 1, and the Blaze offense got the job done.
After scoring just 2 runs in a Sunday doubleheader in San Jose, the Blaze plated 4 in this contest on 9 solid hits. Donald Lutz homered, a solo shot, for his second longball of the year, and newly added Juan Duran singled twice, including a game-tying hit in the 5th. The Blaze took the lead for good in the 6th when Yorman Rodriguez singled with 1 out off Visalia starter Alex Carreras (L, 1-1), and Tucker Barnhart and Bryson Smith followed with a double and single off reliever Bradin Hagens, each plating a run.
Eric Smith worked 3 scoreless innings for Visalia in relief to keep the game close, but the Blaze duo of Jamie Walczak and Wilkin de la Rosa (S, 1) finished off the daytime victory. Also of note: Billy Hamilton stole his League-leading 10th bag of the season.
The series continues tomorrow at 7pm, with Bakersfield's John Holdskom opposing Visalia's Andrew Chafin, the reigning California League Pitcher of the Week. Game audio will be available live through the Blaze website, BakersfieldBlaze.com, with Dan Besbris calling all the action - pregame show starts at 6:50pm.
The game started poorly, but turned from there. In the bottom of the first inning, with the game scoreless, the Rawhide's Mark Freeman doubled, and Chris Owings slugged a 2-run homer. From there, it was all Renken (W, 2-0). Renken retired 14 in a row at one point, struck out 8, and walked just 1, and the Blaze offense got the job done.
After scoring just 2 runs in a Sunday doubleheader in San Jose, the Blaze plated 4 in this contest on 9 solid hits. Donald Lutz homered, a solo shot, for his second longball of the year, and newly added Juan Duran singled twice, including a game-tying hit in the 5th. The Blaze took the lead for good in the 6th when Yorman Rodriguez singled with 1 out off Visalia starter Alex Carreras (L, 1-1), and Tucker Barnhart and Bryson Smith followed with a double and single off reliever Bradin Hagens, each plating a run.
Eric Smith worked 3 scoreless innings for Visalia in relief to keep the game close, but the Blaze duo of Jamie Walczak and Wilkin de la Rosa (S, 1) finished off the daytime victory. Also of note: Billy Hamilton stole his League-leading 10th bag of the season.
The series continues tomorrow at 7pm, with Bakersfield's John Holdskom opposing Visalia's Andrew Chafin, the reigning California League Pitcher of the Week. Game audio will be available live through the Blaze website, BakersfieldBlaze.com, with Dan Besbris calling all the action - pregame show starts at 6:50pm.