Bats Come Alive in 8-5 Win
A night after the arms carried the Bakersfield Blaze to a series-opening win, the bats took care of business, and the Blaze beat the Visalia Rawhide 8-5 on Tuesday night in Visalia.
The game featured plenty of scoring from both sides. The Rawhide got on the board first, courtesy of a walk, a fielding mistake, and an RBI groundout, but the Blaze struck back in a big way.
In the 3rd inning, with Visalia still up 1-0, the Blaze mounted a quick and furious rally. After Visalia starter David Holmberg (L, 1-2) retired the first 2, Bryson Smith doubled, Hamilton singled off of Holmberg's leg, and Devin Lohman slammed a first-pitch double into the rightfield corner that scored 2. The Blaze would not trail from that point. Bakersfield added a single run in the 4th, 3 in the 5th to chase Holmberg, and though Visalia would plate 3 of their own in the bottom of the 5th, the Blaze came right back with single runs in the 6th and 7th (homers from Travis Mattair, his 3rd, and Bryson Smith, his first) to lead 8-4.
For Bakersfield, the pitching was short of great, but certainly good enough. John Holdzkom got the spot-start, and went 3 innings, giving up just an unearned run. His high-90's fastball was nearly unhittable, but Holdzkom issued 4 walks, and that shortened his night by, perhaps, an inning. Pat Doyle followed with a scoreless 4th but ran into trouble in the 5th. Mike Griffin (W, 1-1) helped bail the Blaze out, and collected the win with 1.2 innings of effective relief. Brooks Pinckard followed, and closer Brian Pearl got the final 4 outs for his 2nd save.
The series concludes tomorrow at 7pm, with reigning California League Pitcher of the Week Andrew Chafin going for the Rawhide, and Chad Rogers for the Blaze. The team then heads home for 4 with San Jose starting Thursday (Thirsty Thursday) at Sam Lynn Ballpark. Tomorrow's action can be heard live on BakersfieldBlaze.com, with Dan Besbris calling the play by play.
The game featured plenty of scoring from both sides. The Rawhide got on the board first, courtesy of a walk, a fielding mistake, and an RBI groundout, but the Blaze struck back in a big way.
In the 3rd inning, with Visalia still up 1-0, the Blaze mounted a quick and furious rally. After Visalia starter David Holmberg (L, 1-2) retired the first 2, Bryson Smith doubled, Hamilton singled off of Holmberg's leg, and Devin Lohman slammed a first-pitch double into the rightfield corner that scored 2. The Blaze would not trail from that point. Bakersfield added a single run in the 4th, 3 in the 5th to chase Holmberg, and though Visalia would plate 3 of their own in the bottom of the 5th, the Blaze came right back with single runs in the 6th and 7th (homers from Travis Mattair, his 3rd, and Bryson Smith, his first) to lead 8-4.
For Bakersfield, the pitching was short of great, but certainly good enough. John Holdzkom got the spot-start, and went 3 innings, giving up just an unearned run. His high-90's fastball was nearly unhittable, but Holdzkom issued 4 walks, and that shortened his night by, perhaps, an inning. Pat Doyle followed with a scoreless 4th but ran into trouble in the 5th. Mike Griffin (W, 1-1) helped bail the Blaze out, and collected the win with 1.2 innings of effective relief. Brooks Pinckard followed, and closer Brian Pearl got the final 4 outs for his 2nd save.
The series concludes tomorrow at 7pm, with reigning California League Pitcher of the Week Andrew Chafin going for the Rawhide, and Chad Rogers for the Blaze. The team then heads home for 4 with San Jose starting Thursday (Thirsty Thursday) at Sam Lynn Ballpark. Tomorrow's action can be heard live on BakersfieldBlaze.com, with Dan Besbris calling the play by play.