Ports' Manarino rebounds with dominant start

After a rough start to the month, Evan Manarino got back in the groove on Saturday.
The A's left-hander gave up one hit and struck out three over a season-high six scoreless frames as Class A Advanced Stockton topped Lake Elsinore, 3-1, at Banner Island Ballpark.

Manarino (3-2) had surrendered 13 runs on 22 hits over 11 2/3 innings in his first three appearances in May. Conversely, he posted a 1.57 ERA over 23 frames in April. Hoping to rediscover his early-season form, the 24-year-old got back to basics against the Storm.
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"I was just trying to get ahead and let my defense get some work in," he said. "Just tried to make it easy on them and get some ground balls and popups, really let them go to work."
Manarino retired his first six batters before Padres No. 25 prospect Ruddy Giron lined a leadoff double in the third. Giron reached third on a groundout by Carlos Belen, but the inning ended with Manarino tagging him out trying to score on a pitch in the dirt.
"He was on second with nobody out, so I was just trying to keep the ball on the infield," the UC Irvine product said. "I did that and got a ground ball to shortstop and then a ground ball back to me. And then we were able to get him at the plate. I was just trying to keep the ball down so they couldn't get it up in the air."
The Storm didn't get another baserunner against Manarino, who retired the next 12 batters after Giron's double. Although the 2015 25th-round pick had thrown 70 pitches through six frames, he returned to the dugout to find his night was finished.
"I was feeling good. I wasn't sure what they were going to do," Manarino said. "I came in and they said I was done and they were going to hand it over to the bullpen, which we have a good one, and we were able to get the win."
The California native cut his ERA from 4.41 to 3.76, which ranks 15th in the hitter-friendly California League. While a handful of bad starts early in the month sullied some of his numbers, he boasts a 35-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.08 WHIP in 40 2/3 innings after Saturday's outing.
"It felt good," Manarino said. "Hopefully, I can keep it going and continue to pitch how I was during April. I had a couple outings that weren't my best, so it's good to get this one and hopefully keep building from it."

Chris Jensen took over for the Ports in the seventh and allowed a run on one hit while fanning three over the final three innings to record his first save.
Seth Brown went 3-for-3 with a triple and an RBI for Stockton, while Branden Cogswell plated two runs with a fifth-inning single.
Jesse Scholtens (0-1) started for Lake Elsinore and yielded three runs on five hits and a walk with five strikeouts over six innings.