JetHawks mauled in Modesto

Mark Seaver pitched six scoreless innings, allowing five hits, while striking out five to cool hot-hitting Lancaster.

By ED HARBOUR
Valley Press Staff Writer

He brought Lancaster and its league-best offense to a grinding halt as the A's took the opening game of a three-game series 5-0 before a crowd of 1,948 at John Thurman Field.

It was just the second time this season that Lancaster (27-7, 67-37) had been shutout.

Seaver (5-8) threw six-scoreless innings of five-hit ball and racked up five strikeouts to earn his fifth win.

"(Seaver's) record doesn't really dictate the kind of (stuff) he's got," Lancaster skipper Mark Parent said. "We weren't doing much today. We were lethargic and just played like (garbage)."

Terrmel Sledge was the lone Lancaster baserunner to advance to second base against Seaver on Thursday.

Modesto (15-19, 54-50) called on Andrew Kimball in the seventh to relieve Seaver and he responded by going scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings.

In the top of the eighth, Kimball ran into trouble, walking Freddy May and giving up a single to Sledge to put Lancaster runners at the corners with no outs and Juan Silvestre at the plate.

Silvestre, though, grounded out to first baseman Mitch Gregg who threw to second where Sledge was tagged out and second baseman Justin Hall threw home where May, who failed to slide, was called out to complete the A's second triple play of the season.

"It was just a bonehead play by Freddy," Parent said. "Instead of just going for home, he froze."

Lancaster starter Scott Atchison (3-4) struggled to find the strike zone Thursday, as he opened the game by walking the first three batters he faced.

Atchison escaped without allowing a run in the first by striking out Ryan Ludwick and getting catcher Miguel Olivo to ground into an inning ending double play.

"He was real erratic with his release point and never made the adjustments," pitching coach Scott Budner said. "During the course of the year you're going to have outings like that. You just hope to minimize them."

In the bottom half of the second, Atchison again looked shaky giving up back-to-back singles to Jonathan Schaeffer and Gregg to start the frame.

Atchison, though, countered by striking out Christian Reyes and Jesus Basabe to follow the singles.

It looked as though Atchison had escaped another close call when Justin Hall followed Basabe by weakly grounding to short.

But Antonio Perez couldn't handle the ball and Schaeffer scored and Hall reached to put Modesto up 1-0 and give them two men on with two outs.

Outfielder Jason Clements, playing in his second game with the A's, capped off the inning with a three-run homer to post Modesto a 4-0 lead.

"When a guy's out there struggling, the defense gets on its heels a little more," Budner said. "It all starts with the pitcher. If he's not doing his job you're going to see more errors and plays like that.

"You have to keep your defense in the game by keeping the ball over the plate and being aggressive."

Atchison was finished after four innings, giving up four runs, all unearned, to notch the loss.

"They took advantage of the errors and the mistakes," Parent said. "It's what we've done to other teams all year and they did it to us."

Uploaded July 28, 2000