VISALIA, Calif. - The Stockton Ports suffered another late-inning letdown on Saturday night at Recreation Ballpark. The Visalia Rawhide broke a 1-1 tie by scoring two runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to send Stockton to a third straight loss, this time by a final of
VISALIA, Calif. - The Stockton Ports suffered another late-inning letdown on Saturday night at Recreation Ballpark. The Visalia Rawhide broke a 1-1 tie by scoring two runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to send Stockton to a third straight loss, this time by a final of 3-1.
For the first time in the series the Ports scored first as Seth Brown opened the second inning with a single, Mikey White walked and Argenis Raga singled to center to score Brown and give Stockton a 1-0 lead. With runners at the corners and nobody out, Rawhide started Jose Almonte got Nate Mondou to strike out, Luis Barrera to line out to right field and Richie Martin to strike out to avoid any further damage in the frame.
Almonte would go five innings and give up four hits while walking three and striking out eight.
Ports starter Angel Duno pitched around back-to-back two-out singles in the first and a bases-loaded two-out jam in the third to keep Visalia out of the run column. In the fifth, Galli Cribbs Jr. was hit by a pitch to open the frame. Later in the inning with Cribbs at third base and two outs, Jason Morozowski would reach on a throwing error committed by the second baseman Mondou that allowed Cribbs to score and tie the game at 1-1.
Duno would allow just the unearned run on four hits while striking out eight over six strong innings.
Brandon Marsonek (0-1) took over for Stockton in the seventh and set the side down in order in his first inning. In the eighth, Marsonek issued a leadoff walk to Austin Byler and then proceeded to retire the next two batters. With Byler at second base and two outs, Matt McPhearson singled into right field to score Byler and give the Rawhide a 2-1 lead. Jorge Flores followed with an RBI single to center that made it a 3-1 contest.
Marsonek suffered the loss after allowing two runs on two hits in two innings of work.
Colin Poche took over for Visalia in the sixth and pitched an inning-and-a-third, leaving with two on and one out in the seventh. Ryan Burr (1-0) came on in relief of Poche and recorded a strikeout and a groundout to strand his inherited runners. Burr would pitch a scoreless eighth and go on to earn his first California League victory for Visalia.
Tommy Eveld (SV, 1) set the side down in order in the ninth to notch his first save of the season.
The Ports and Rawhide wrap up their four-game set on Sunday night at Recreation Ballpark. Left-hander Dalton Sawyer (2-4, 3.57 ERA) makes the start for Stockton, opposed by Visalia right-hander Jon Duplantier (4-1, 2.16 ERA). First pitch is set for 6 p.m. PDT.
