Lead Slips Away Before 66ers Pull Away in 14-6 Loss
STOCKTON, Calif. – Another high-scoring, back-and-forth affair went to Inland Empire on Saturday night, as they eventually pulled away for a 14-6 victory over Stockton. The win guarantees a season series win for the 66ers over the Ports, and Stockton will have to aim for a split in this series
STOCKTON, Calif. – Another high-scoring, back-and-forth affair went to Inland Empire on Saturday night, as they eventually pulled away for a 14-6 victory over Stockton. The win guarantees a season series win for the 66ers over the Ports, and Stockton will have to aim for a split in this series tomorrow at 6:05 PM.
Three bloop singles in the bottom of the first for Dylan Fien, Pedro Pineda, and Carlos Franco got the Ports (32-36, 0-2) out to an early 2-0 lead. The 66ers (20-48, 2-0) got one back in the second inning after Luis Freitez drop a fly ball in shallow right to score a run for a 2-1 game.
Blake Hammond made a spot start for the Ports with Jose Dicochea being scratched due to arm tightness and Hammond filled in admirably before running into trouble in the third. He allowed two triples, a walk, and a home run to give the 66ers a 5-2 advantage before being lifted for Tucker Novotny.
It would be three doubles for Stockton in the third inning from C.J. Pittaro, Pineda, and Franco that plated two more runs for the Ports to cut it to a 5-4 deficit. Doubles for Cesar Gonzalez and Pittaro along with a passed ball in the fifth allowed the Ports to claim the lead at 6-5.
Stockton tried to get 3.2 innings out of Novotny in relief, but he wasn’t quite able to get that final out in the sixth, as Dario Laverde drove in a pair of runs with a single into left center to put Inland Empire ahead 7-6. The 66ers got another run in the seventh off Bryan Restituyo to go up 8-6, before all heck broke loose in the ninth.
Andinson Ferrer had his first bad with Stockton, after allowing just two earned runs in his first 10.2 innings pitched with the Ports. He would last just 0.2 of an inning while allowing six runs on three hits with four walks, with two of the runs coming in after manager Javier Godard turned to his DH Franco to finish out the inning to not burn another pitcher.
UP NEXT: Major Leaguer Ken Waldichuk will make a rehab assignment with the Ports tomorrow, with the lefty out of Saint Mary’s College scheduled to pitch three innings followed by the Ports Sam Stuhr (2-2, 5.26).
Single game tickets, mini plans, and group outings are all on sale for the 2025 season. For more information, call the Ports front office at 209-644-1900 or email at [email protected].