JetHawks' winning streak reaches 10

Lancaster won its 10th game in a row as Juan Silvestre hit a grand slam and the JetHawks took advantage of 15 walks.

By ED HARBOUR
Valley Press Staff Writer

Neal got the better of Silvestre in the showdown but the JetHawks emerged victorious, 15-12, for the team's 10th win in a row before a crowd of 1,816 at Lancaster Municipal Stadium.

In the game, High Desert (27-61, 4-14) pitchers walked 15 batters - nine of them scored - and lost their 12th consecutive game.

"They looked like they were really going to take it to us today," Lancaster skipper Mark Parent said. "They let us back in the game with some walks, but (Neal) didn't want to let it go."

Neal, High Desert's first baseman, launched three home runs, drove in six runs and scored five times, finishing 3-for-3 with a pair of walks.

To carry his end of the bargain, Silvestre went 2-for-3 with a grand slam and seven runs-batted-in, scoring three times as well.

After being down 3-0 early, Silvestre picked up his team with a grand slam in the third inning to give the JetHawks a short-lived 4-3 lead off High Desert starter Jason Jensen. To set up the home run, Jensen walked Terrmel Sledge to load the bases, forcing the at-bat with Silvestre.

The slam was Silvestre's 22nd homer of the year, to go with 96 RBI, both league-high numbers. Silvestre came to the plate three times on Sunday with the bases juiced and walked away with an RBI each time.

Down 15-11 heading into the final frame, the Mavericks made a go of breaking their losing streak, scoring four runs and loading the bases against relievers Aaron Looper and Omar Obando, but fell short as Obando got outfielder Steve Woodward to groundout to end the game.

"We had six walks in the last two innings," Parent said. "We tried our damnedest to let them back in the game. Obando was very aggressive for that final out.

"People keep asking if we feel sorry for this team, (but) they almost came back and beat us today."

Lancaster starter Chris Mears set big league all-star Matt Williams down three times with a strikeout and two pop-outs, the problem was he couldn't retire anyone else, namely Neal.

"He didn't make real quality pitches today," Lancaster pitching coach Scott Budner said. "He didn't locate his fastball very well and had trouble closing out innings.

"He has to make that adjustment to be successful and today he didn't."

Mears went six innings, getting hit around for seven runs, all earned, on 10 hits but it was good enough for him to notch his seventh win.

Matt Williams finished 0-for-4 on Sunday, going 3-for-8 against Lancaster pitching in two games.

"With (Williams) it's less about what he does against our team and more about what the guys pick up from watching him," Parent said. "Hopefully the guys took the time to see how a big leaguer goes out and does his job."

Catcher Scott Maynard had a hot night behind the dish and at the plate. Maynard threw out two of the four baserunners attempting to steal and added a leadoff home run to start the four-run sixth for Lancaster. He finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.

Third baseman Bo Robinson had another solid day at the plate, finishing his day 2-for-3 with a pair of runs batted in.

Uploaded July 10, 2000