JetHawks finally stop Stampede on the road

Chris Mears lifted Lancaster to its first win at San Bernardino this season with 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball.

By TERRY JOHNSON
Valley Press Assistant Sports Editor

The JetHawks accomplished their mission Monday night with a 6-1 victory over the Stampede, a likely playoff opponent, in the opener of a three-game series. It was Lancaster's first win in seven games at The Ranch this year.

For good measure, right-hander Chris Mears broke his 0-for-theroad streak this season. Mears (10-8) allowed one run in 7 1/3 innings in one of his strongest performances of the year and won for the first time in six decisions away from home.

"It seems like the team and Chris both got the monkey off our backs tonight," said JetHawks manager Mark Parent, whose club reduced its magic number for clinching the California League South Division's second-half title to five.

"It was no secret we had to come in here and win one or two games, at least one. There's a good chance we're going to face this team in the playoffs and half the games are on the road. We knew we had to play better away from home, so we might as well get it started."

Mears did his part in getting the JetHawks pointed in the right direction by allowing four hits and two walks. Mears didn't allow a hit until San Bernardino outfielder Darron Ingram singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning. He didn't give up a run until the eighth.

By then, the JetHawks had built a six-run lead off loser Apostol Garcia (0-2) and struggling reliever Rick Roberts.

Five of those runs came in the sixth inning when they strung together four hits and a walk. The key blow was a two-run, 450-foot home run by outfielder Wilfredo Quintana off Roberts, which capped the rally.

Mears needed only eighth-inning help by left-hander Denny McDaniel and third baseman Bo Robinson after he allowed the Stampede to load the bases with no outs on three straight hits.

San Bernardino scored its only run on a force play. Then McDaniel took over and struck out Joe Thurston for the second out. Robinson ended the threat with a diving snare of Jesus Feliciano's line drive down the third-base line.

"We got some good swings off Mears, but we couldn't get the big hit we needed," said San Bernardino manager Dino Ebel. "He made some good pitches when he had to."

"Chris got a lot of fly-ball outs (11)," Parent said. "I'd rather see him get more ground-ball outs, but it doesn't matter how you get them. He won a big ballgame for us.

"The main thing was he stayed strong for 100-plus pitches. He made the adjustments he needed to make when he needed to make them. We needed him to compete and he certainly did that. He's pitched pretty well at times on the road, but it should help his confidence knowing he beat a good team in a place where we hadn't won."

Mears said the fact the team broke its losing streak in San Bernardino was more important than the end of his personal streak.

"I don't look at wins and losses so much as whether I'm able to keep my team in the game," Mears said. "At times, I've done a pretty good job of that. That was my main goal tonight. Giving us a chance to win is more important than who wins the game.

"I wanted to hold them down, especially after we had that big inning. That's especially important against this team because once they score a run, they keep on going. It was important for me to make quality pitches after we got that lead.

"We're definitely thinking about the playoffs, so this was a huge win, team-wise. This is a team we're going to face in the playoffs. We needed to beat them in their own ballpark."

Uploaded August 22, 2000