Sixers lack timely hitting, fall to Stockton
By Michelle Gardner | mgardner@scng.com | Daily Bulletin
PUBLISHED: August 12, 2010 at 12:00 a.m. | UPDATED: September 1, 2017 at 5:35 a.m.
SAN BERNARDINO – Getting runners on base was not an issue for the Inland Empire 66ers in their California League contest against the visiting Stockton Ports.
Getting them all the way around … well, that proved problematic, and the Sixers were beaten 4-1 on Thursday at Arrowhead Credit Union Park.
The 66ers (44-72 overall, 18-28 second half) stranded 10 runners on the night, seven of those in scoring position. They left the bases loaded in the first and fourth innings and were 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position on the night.
"We had plenty of opportunities, we just didn't cash them in," Sixers manager Jeff Carter said. "You like to get all of them, but you have to get some of them, and it's something we haven't been doing."
The Ports (57-59, 26-20), an affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, never trailed as Sixers starter Josh Walter (1-7) got off to a shaky start. He allowed a solo home run to Jermaine Mitchell to start the game and a two-run shot by Stephen Parker two batters later, with the hit before his a liner off the wall by former USC standout Grant Green.
Even the outs were loud, as rehabbing big leaguer Conor Jackson's long fly ball was corralled at the base of the wall by center fielder Ramon Jean, and another by Michael Spina was retrieved at the warning track in left by Alfredo Silverio.
Walter settled down after the rough first frame and allowed just one more run in the next five innings, scattering six hits and one walk while striking out five.
"Too much up and over the plate," Carter said of Walter's first inning.
"He could have caved, but he went back out there and kept us in the game and gave us a chance. He competed, and that was good to see."
It was 4-0 before the Sixers finally managed a clutch hit. They had been 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position before Tony Delmonico stroked a run- scoring single in the fifth that drove home Scott Van Slyke, who led off with a single.
That was the lone run, however, that Inland Empire managed against four Ports pitchers.
Stockton starter Ben Hornbeck (5-3) and reliever Scott Deal combined to set down the next nine hitters, the streak ending when Dustin Yount reached on a bloop single to lead off the ninth. Silverio reached on a single with two outs, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Chris Gutierrez grounded into a fielder's choice to end the contest.
Lake Elsinore 6, Quakes 5
Rancho Cucamonga had a 5-3 lead but couldn't hold on and fell to the host Storm at The Diamond.
The Quakes led until Lake Elsinore scored four in the bottom of the fifth, all at the expense of starter Ryan Chaffee. The big blow was a grand slam by Jaff Decker that followed a walk, a single and a hit batter.
Michael Trout went 3 for 3 with a double and two RBIs and Dillon Baird slugged a two-run home run to lead the Quakes offense.
michelle.gardner@inlandnewspapers.com 909-483-9344
Michelle Gardner | reporter
Michelle Gardner has covered high school sports and local colleges for the Daily Bulletin and Sun since 2002. She previously covered a wide variety of sports from the high school level to the professional ranks in Florida with tenures at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Naples Daily News and the Fort Myers News-Press and is graduate of the University of Florida.
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