Yarbrough Leads Blaze to Second Straight Shutout, 3-0

The masterful pitching continued on Saturday night in Bakersfield, as Ryan Yarbrough hurled six dominant innings for the Bakersfield Blaze, and a pair of relievers combined to finish the job, blanking the San Jose Giants for the second straight night and winning the club's third game in a row by a final score of 3-0.

The story on this Saturday night was pretty well condensed into two notes: tremendous pitching and one mighty swing of the bat from Tyler O'Neill.

On the pitching side, Ryan Yarbrough (W, 2-1) set the tone once again. The big lefty worked at the knees all night, allowing a single hit in each of the first four innings, and nothing else. Ryan ended his evening with six shutout innings for the second straight start, striking out a season-high six opposing batters while walking just one.

Meanwhile, as tough as Yarbrough was, Giants starter Luis Ysla (L, 0-2) was just the opposite, never looking comfortable in his two innings-plus. Ysla managed to get through a fairly uneventful 1st inning, allowing just a walk, but in the second the wheels began to come off. Two walks and a single put Ysla in a tight spot, but a key Blaze baserunning mistake kept the club from putting up a run.

In the 3rd, the Blaze broke through. A leadoff single for Ian Miller was followed by the second of three walks drawn by Aaron Barbosa, putting two on base with nobody out. Up stepped Tyler O'Neill, and the powerhouse youngster continued to torment San Jose, crushing a fastball from Ysla over the parking lot and into the nearby little league diamonds for a three-run homer and a 3-0 Blaze lead.

And that is how the game would finish, as well. Nick Valenza picked up for Yarbrough in the 7th, and after allowing the first two Giants to reach, Valenza got a key double play ball to escape the jam. Nick rumbled through an easy 8th, and Emilio Pagan (S, 3) pitched a perfect 9th for his third save of the year.

The Giants used Martin Agosta, Jake Smith and Dan Slania in relief to keep the game close, but the lack of San Jose offense would leave them down.

The Blaze win is the third in a row for the club on the current homestand, the sixth in a row against the San Jose Giants, and the team's eighth in the last nine games, overall. The Blaze move to 10-7 on the year and remain 4.0 games behind the first place Visalia Rawhide while sitting at a season-best three games over the 500 mark.

The homestand continues on Sunday as the Blaze wrap up a four-game series with San Jose in a high noon start at Sam Lynn Ballpark. The Stockton Ports come to town for three games beginning on Monday.

Sunday is a Kids Run the Bases promotional day, so fans are encouraged to round up all the youth they can find, bring them to the yard, and let them run on the field after the conclusion of the game. Gates open at 11:00am.

The Blaze will look to make it four wins in a row behind Dan Altavilla, who is coming off a strong no-decision in Stockton. The Giants counter with Nick Vander Tuig, who picked up his first win of the year in his last start.

Can't make it to the game in person? Listen live, online! Dan Besbris has the call, with pregame show set to begin at 11:55am. The game will be available via the Multimedia Link at BakersfieldBlaze.com or the TuneIn Radio app on mobile devices.