Finnegan Formidable As Ports Beat Mavs 5-2

STOCKTON, Calif. - On a day where Oakland Athletics left-hander Sean Doolittle made his first rehab appearance, Stockton Ports right-hander Kyle Finnegan (2-2) stole the show on Thursday afternoon at Banner Island Ballpark. Finnegan pitched six near-perfect innings in his best start of the season as the Ports salvaged the finale of their three-game series with the High Desert Mavericks by a final of 5-2.

Stockton's offense struck first in the second inning. With runners at the corners and one out, B.J. Boyd drove in a run with an infield single to give the Ports a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Branden Cogswell added a two-out RBI single to right to make it a 2-0 ballgame. Stockton added a third run in the fourth on a leadoff double by Franklin Barreto and an ensuing single by Boyd, who went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI on the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Finnegan set down the first 13 batters he faced taking him one out deep into the fifth. Ryan Cordell broke up the perfect stretch with a bunt single up the third base line, but Finnegan went on to set down the next five batters in a row to complete his outing.

Finnegan earned the win, going six shutout innings and allowing one hit while matching a career-high with six strikeouts.

The Ports added to their lead in the sixth. With one on and two out, Mavericks starter David Ledbetter (0-4) was lifted for Ryne Slack, who walked Cogswell to begin his outing and then surrendered a two-out RBI double to Michael Soto that increased the lead to 4-0. The run was charged to Ledbetter, who suffered the loss after allowing four runs on 10 hits while striking out a season-high six.

Doolittle entered the game to begin the seventh inning and got off to a fast start by striking out the first two batters on six pitches. Doolittle, however, would then give up back-to-back home runs to Alex Burg and Cordell that cut the Ports lead in half at 4-2.

Doolittle completed the seventh inning by inducing a pop fly to the infield. He threw 12 pitches, 10 for strikes, and allowed the two runs on two hits while striking out two.

Stockton added an insurance run in the eighth off Mavericks reliever Juan Grullon. With one out, Brett Vertigan reached on a fielding error committed by shortstop Edwin Garcia. Cogswell and Soto then hit back-to-back singles to score Vertigan and make it a 5-2 contest. The run would be unearned for Grullon.

Trevor Bayless and Ben Bracewell (SV, 1) each pitched a scoreless inning in relief to close out the game for the Ports. Both Bayless and Bracewell induced double plays in the eighth and ninth, respectively. Bracewell earned his first save of the season.

The Ports continue their seven-game homestand on Friday as they begin a four-game set with the Modesto Nuts. Joel Seddon (1-2, 3.09 ERA) makes the start for Stockton, opposed by Modesto left-hander Harrison Musgrave (3-1, 4.34 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. PDT.