Gurriel hits grand slam, drives in five in loss
LANCASTER, Calif. - Yulieski Gurriel hit a grand slam and drove in five, but the JetHawks fell behind big early and their comeback effort came up short in a 12-10 loss to the Modesto Nuts on Sunday night at The Hangar.
Gurriel's grand slam, his first home run with the club, highlighted a six-run sixth inning that put the JetHawks right back in the game. The home run went off the left field foul pole. Gurriel is 6-for-14 with nine RBI in four games for Lancaster.
The JetHawks took a brief early lead on an RBI double by Gurriel in the opening inning. Modesto surged ahead with five runs in the second, four of them coming on a pair of two-run homers by Dom Nunez and Forrest Wall.
The Nuts added four in the fourth to break the game open. They hit two more homers in the frame, as Troy Stein and Josh Fuentes each went deep.
The JetHawks batted around in the big sixth inning. Modesto made it 12-7 with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, but Lancaster responded a two in the bottom of the frame on Jason Martin's 18th home run of the season. Osvaldo Duarte went deep for the fifth time to lead off the home eighth inning, but that's as close as the JetHawks would get.
Brock Dykxhoorn (7-4) gave up 10 runs on 11 hits in five innings and suffered the loss. Kevin McCanna tossed 2.2 shutout innings in relief and struck out two. Helmis Rodriguez (3-8) earned the win, allowing just one run on three hits with five strikeouts in five innings. Luis Niebla tossed a scoreless ninth to record his ninth save in as many opportunities.
The JetHawks went just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base. The win for Modesto marked their first of the season at The Hangar in eight tries.
The JetHawks have the day off Monday before opening a three game series on the road against the Inland Empire 66ers on Tuesday night at San Manuel Stadium. First pitch is 7:05 p.m.
The JetHawks are celebrating their 20th anniversary season in Lancaster. Great ticket packages and group events are on sale now at jethawks.com or by calling (661) 726-5400.