Hot Bats Help Ports To 7-5 Win

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - The Stockton Ports left a season-high 15 runners stranded on Saturday night at San Manuel Stadium, but all was well that ended well for the Boys of Banner Island. The Ports plated seven runs on 13 hits and held on for a 7-5 win over the Inland Empire 66ers to earn their second straight win and their fourth win in five games on their seven-game road trip.
After squandering a scoring chance with runners at the corners and one out in the first, the Ports scored the first run of the contest in the second. With two on and nobody out, Nate Mondou singled to center to score Edwin Diaz to give the Ports a 1-0 lead. Stockton would go on to put runners at second and third with one out but come away with just the lone run.
The Ports would load the bases with two outs in the third and come away empty, but they enjoyed their biggest inning of the night in the fourth. After a double by Brallan Perez and bunt-single by Kevin Merrell opened the inning and put runners at the corners, Luke Persico reached on a fielding error committed by shortstop Luis Rengifo that allowed a run to score and make it 2-0. Skye Bolt and Jonah Heim followed with back-to-back RBI singles to grow the lead to 4-0 with Hiem's single extending his hit streak to 19 games. After Dairon Blanco walked to load the bases, 66ers starter Nate Bertness (1-3) was lifted for Jonah Wesely, who gave up an RBI single to Edwin Diaz that stretched the lead to 5-0. Luis Barrera would bounce into a double play that allowed a sixth run to score, Stockton's fifth and final run of the inning.
Bertness would suffer the loss for Inland Empire as he worked three-plus innings and allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits while walking a season-high five.
Meanwhile, Ports starter Logan Shore (2-0) retired the first eight batters he faced and nine of the first 10 to get through the first three innings. Shore's lone rough patch came in the bottom of the fourth when he hit Jahmai Jones to start the inning, then gave up an RBI double to Jack Kruger followed by an RBI single to Jared Walsh that cut the Ports lead to 6-2. Shore, though, would rebound and strike out the next three batters in succession on his way to pitching six strong innings and earning the victory, allowing four hits while striking out four without issuing a walk.
Stockton got a run back in the top of the fifth as Persico delivered an RBI single with one out to make it 7-2. It was the lone run allowed by Wesely in two innings of relief.
Zac Ryan and Kyle Halbohn combined for four scoreless innings of relief down the stretch for Inland Empire with each pitcher working around spots where the Ports had a runner at third base with less than two outs.
Boomer Biegalski took over for Shore in the seventh and set the side down in order with a pair of strikeouts in his first inning. In the eighth, however, Biegalski gave up back-to-back singles to Rengifo and Brandon Sandoval. After a strikeout, Biegalski walked Kruger to load the bases for Walsh, who hit a two-run single to right to cut the Ports lead to 7-4 and knock Biegalski from the game. Angel Duno (SV, 3) was summoned from the bullpen and, after retiring his first batter, would see Merrell commit a throwing error at shortstop on a ball put in play by Kevin Williams Jr. that resulted in another run to make it 7-5.
Duno would come back for the ninth and give up a two-out single to Rengifo that got the possible-tying run to the plate in Jones, who struck out swinging to end the ballgame. In escaping the jam, Duno earned his third save of the season.
The Ports and 66ers play the third game of their four-game set on Sunday afternoon at San Manuel Stadium. Parker Dunshee (2-1, 2.73 ERA) makes the start for Stockton, opposed by Inland Empire right-hander Jason Alexander (2-2, 4.21 ERA). First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m. PDT.