Volcanoes Doused by Dust Devils

KEIZER, Ore. -- A dominant outing by Volcanoes starting pitcher Alejandro De La Rosa was not enough as Volcanoes once again falter at the hands of the Dust Devils 7-4 in the final game of the series between the two clubs.
 
For the second time in as many nights, a Volcanoes starting pitcher committed an error in the first inning when Volcanoes right hander Alejandro De La Rosa fielded a swinging bunt and airmailed the first baseman, which allowed leadoff hitter Kelvin Melean to get all the way to third with nobody out. With Melean standing on third base and nobody out, De La Rosa bared down and retired the next three batters in order to keep the runner stranded.
 
The Dust Devils starting pitcher Osvaldo Hernandez was cruising through the Volcanoes lineup until the bottom of the fourth when left fielder Robinson Medrano led off the inning with an opposite field single to right. Medrano advanced on a wild pitch and then scored on an error by Melean. With the pitch count for Hernandez mounting, the Dust Devils pulled their 19 year old lefthander to give way to right hander Mark Zimmerman.
 
Even though the night ended early for Hernandez, the young lefty showed why the Padres were willing to invest a 2.5 million dollar signing bonus on the young Cuban. Hernandez coupled a firm fastball with a sharp 10 to 3 breaking ball that baffled Volcanoes hitters all night. In total, Hernandez tossed 3.1 innings without giving up an earned run and struck out four in his first professional outing.
 
While Hernandez was effective in his first outing, the Volcanoes' reliever De La Rosa was absolutely dominant. Across five frames, De La Rosa struck out eight Dust Devils batters, while yielding just three base hits, all singles, and walking two.
 
Left hander Nick Deeg took over for De La Rosa in the sixth and retired the first few hitters.
With runners on first and second and two outs, the Dust Devils attempted a double steal. Richard Amion was late covering third so when catcher Jeffry Parra fired down to third, his throw scooted into left field, allowing the Dust Devils runner, Boomer White, to come home, knotting the game at one.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Dust Devils put in right-hander Andres Munoz, who was clocked as high as 100 mph in the Arizona Fall League last year at just 17 years old. Munoz dominated the first two batters, but with two away and nobody on, the Volcanoes shortstop Manuel Geraldo worked a walk. With designated hitter Dylan Manwaring at the plate, Geraldo swiped second and third base, pushing his steal total for the game up to four. Munoz then threw a pitch to the backstop, allowing Geraldo to come across and score, giving the Volcanoes a 3 to 2 lead.
 
The Volcanoes would not be able to maintain their advantage for long as the Dust Devils turned three walks and two wild pitches by right-hander Cesar Yanez into a 3 to 2 lead in the top of the seventh. Yanez couldn't find the strike zone again in the eighth when he issued three more free passes and allowed two more runs via the wild pitch.
 
With the score at 5 to 2 in the bottom of the eighth, Kevin Rivera lasered a triple down the right field line scoring third baseman Richard Amion. Juan Rodriguez followed with a line drive single to right field, bringing the Volcanoes within striking distance with a score of 5 to 4 heading into the top of the ninth.
 
The Dust Devils would add two more runs before they were done, culminating in a 7 to 4 win.
 
The Volcanoes have now lost three straight and will look to end their current losing streak when they travel to Hillsboro to square off against the Hops on Tuesday evening with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m.