JetHawks survive another meltdown

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press April 9, 1996.
By CHRIS BRANAM
Staff Writer
VISALIA - Suddenly, the two-out hits that the Lancaster JetHawks needed the last two nights seemed to appear almost every inning against Visalia Monday.

And boy, did the JetHawks need them.

Lancaster took a 9-2 lead after seven innings and held on to beat the Oaks 9-8 to stop a two-game losing streak before 679 at Recreation Park.

Seattle starting pitcher Chris Bosio, with Lancaster on a rehab assignment pitched four solid innings and helped the JetHawks improve to 3-2. The Oaks fell to 2-3 in the California League.

Trailing 9-5 entering the bottom of the ninth, and with closer John Thompson on in relief for Lancaster, Visalia rallied for three runs with two out.

Eric Danapills, Del Marine and Chris Lemonis all had RBI singles for the Oaks in the rally.

Thompson left after giving up Lemonis' hit off the end of the bat, and Tom Szimanski struck out Monday's hero Rodrigo Barajas to end it.

Barajas had a game-winning single in the ninth Sunday to beat Lancaster.

"They hit a couple balls off the end of the bat," Lancaster Manager Dave Brundage said. "Teams get on a roll like that."

Through the first six innings, the JetHawks were the team with the two-out hits.

After stranding 39 runners in their last three games, the JetHawks scored seven runs Monday night with two out.

Five came in the fourth against Visalia starter John Kelly, a 28-year-old knuckleballer who was making his first minor league start in seven seasons.

The JetHawks went ahead 2-0 in the second.

Carlos Villalobos started the inning with a single and Jesus Marquez sacrificed him to second.

After Scot Sealy flied out to right, Jason Cook singled Villalobos home for the first run and Luis Molina doubled down the left field line to drive in Cook.

The Oaks came back with a run in the bottom of the second on Marine's sacrifice fly that scored Danapills, who doubled.

Lancaster solved Kelly's off-speed pitches and blew the game open in the fourth.

After the first two batters went down, Sealy was hit by a pitch and Cook tripled him home to make it 3-1.

Molina followed with a blooper to center that scored Cook, and Molina then scored all the way from first when center fielder David Roberts overthrew the cut-off man on Marcus Sturdivant's single.

Shane Monahan tripled to left-center field to drive in Sturdivant to make it 6-1 and Monahan came home on a passed ball by Barajas with the fifth run of the inning.

"We started getting an idea against his knuckleball," Brundage said. "We started staying within ourselves and driving balls into the gaps."

Barajas had problems behind the plate defensively, allowing three passed balls.

Those were all the runs Bosio would need. The 33-year-old right-hander gave up just three hits and struck out four.

Bosio set down the side in the second and third and threw only 55 pitches.

He is scheduled to come off the 15-day disabled list Friday and pitch for Seattle on Saturday against Toronto.

"I didn't have any soreness in the knee, which is the biggest thing for me," Bosio said. "I wanted to get on the mound and test the knee.

"Whether it be Triple-A or Single-A, it doesn't matter," he said.



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Uploaded 05/01/96

© 1996 Antelope Valley Press, Palmdale, California, USA (805) 273-2700