Ports Erase 6-0 Deficit, Beat Blaze 9-6
With the game scoreless after three, the Blaze plated three runs in the fourth off Ports starter Sean Murphy. Bakersfield got three straight singles from Devin Lohman, Dominic D'Anna and Travis Mattair, with Mattair's scoring Lohman to make it a 1-0 ballgame. Three batters later with two outs, Tucker Barnhart doubled to right to score two more runs and make it a 3-0 Blaze lead.
Bakersfield scored three more in the fifth on a three-run homer from Mattair with two outs, making it a 6-0 advantage.
Murphy would receive a no-decision, going five innings and allowing six runs on six hits while striking out six.
Stockton's offense had opportunities, but couldn't convert over the first four innings against Blaze starter Andrew Brackman. Brackman walked two batters and hit two batters over the first four frames, but the Ports stranded six baserunners over that span.
In the bottom of the fifth, however, the Ports would catch a break. After back-to-back walks drawn by Chad Oberacker and Dusty Robinson to start the inning, Stockton had runners at the corners with nobody out. On a pitch in the dirt, Robinson advanced to second and the throw from Barnhart went into center field, an error that allowed Oberacker to score Stockton's first run of the game.
Brackman, though, would not make it out of the fifth. The right-hander received a no-decision after going 4.1 innings and allowing an unearned run on three hits while walking five, hitting two, and striking out two.
The Ports continued to chip away at a 6-1 deficit in the sixth facing Blaze reliever Brooks Pinckard. With one on and two out, Oberacker hit a two-run homer to right to make it a 6-3 game.
Daniel Wolford (6-4) started the seventh for the Blaze by recording back-to-back strikeouts. With two down, however, the Ports would rise from the ashes for their largest inning of the night. Beau Taylor walked and Tony Thompson followed with a bloop-single to center that fell behind Lohman the second baseman. With runners at the corners, Wolford uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Taylor to score and make it a two-run game. Josh Whitaker and Yordy Cabrera drew back-to-back walks that loaded the bases and signaled Wolford's departure from the game. Kyle McMyne came on to face Michael Gilmartin with the bases loaded and Gilmartin singled to right to score a pair and tie the game at 6-6. Oberacker followed with a single to right that got past Jaren Matthews and to the warning track, an error that led to an additional run and gave the Ports an 8-6 lead.
Wolford would take the loss after allowing four runs on one hit while walking three over two-thirds of an inning of work. McMyne allowed an unearned run at the end of the seventh, but gave up an earned run in the eighth when Miles Head started the inning with his 15th home run of the season to make ita 9-6 ballgame.
Ryan Doolittle (1-3), who came on to start the sixth in relief of Murphy, pitched 2.2 innings and retired all but the final batter he faced-Juan Duran-who singled with two outs in the eighth. Doolittle would earn the win after 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing just the one hit while striking out two.
Zack Thornton (SV, 6) came on to record the final out of the eighth. Thornton allowed a pair of hits in the ninth to get the possible-tying run to the plate in Lohman, but Thornton struck him out with two in scoring position to end the ballgame.
After splitting their four-game set with the Blaze, the Ports welcome the Visalia Rawhide to Banner Island Ballpark to wrap up the season's first half with a three-game series. In the opener, Jake Brown (2-4, 3.23 ERA) will take the mound for Stockton, opposed by Visalia left-hander Taylor Siemens (0-1, 5.40 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. PDT.