Went from first place on May 2 (18-9, 1½ games ahead) to fourth place as of today (19-21, four games behind Lake Elsinore)How'd this happen? A timetable of the slide from first place.
By CHRIS BRANAM
Staff Writer
STOCKTON - The last thing a team on a losing streak needs is an eight-hour bus ride.
But that just what the blearyeyed Lancaster JetHawks got Tuesday, leaving Lake Elsinore at 6 a.m. and arriving in Stockton in the early afternoon. They arrived to endure its eighth-straight loss, 6-2 to the host Ports at Billy Hebert Field.
"I'm sure people are a little sluggish and a little tight after getting off the bus," Lancaster second baseman Jason Cook said after the game. "You've just got to make the best of it. I'm still optimistic that we're coming around."
Cook mentioned the fact that Lancaster got 10 hits despite not taking batting practice before the game.
"We need the hits to come in a more timely fashion," he said.
Reversing a recent trend of falling behind, the JetHawks took a 1-0 lead in the first.
Jason Cook walked with one out and went to second on a bunt single by Jose Cruz Jr. James Clifford then hit the first pitch from Smith through the right side for a run-scoring single.
But just when it looked like the JetHawks' fortunes might be turning, the Ports responded with a pair of runs in the second.
Hot-hitting Stockton (sporting a team-batting average of .284 entering the game) opened the inning with three-straight hits off Lancaster starter Brett Hinchliffe.
Toby Kominek led off with a drive down the left-field line that bounced off the bottom of the left field wall for a double. Mike Rennhack followed with a single, and Alex Andreopoulos then hit a double off the right-field wall.
Both runners scored as the ball rolled back toward the infield after hitting the brick fence, making it 2-1.
The Ports put together threestraight hits in the third to get their third run.
Scott Krause, Drew Williams and Kominek all singled, with Krause scoring on Kominek's base hit and making it 3-1.
Stockton took a 4-1 lead in the fourth on Josh Tyler's RBI single up the middle that drove in Junior Betances.
The JetHawks had a good opportunity to cut into that threerun lead in the sixth.
Carlos Villalobos and Jesus Marquez hit back-to-back, one-out singles, putting runners on first and third for Shawn Buhner. But Buhner hit into a double play on Smith's 88th pitch of the game to end the threat.
That play proved to be pivotal for Hinchliffe, who had set down the Ports in order for the first time in the fifth.
Entering the sixth, knowing that it was probably his last inning - he had thrown 84 pitches through five innings - Hinchliffe gave up a one-out single to Andreopoulos.
After Betances flew out to deep center field, ninth-place hitter Mickey Lopez stroked a single to right and Tyler followed with his second hit of the game, a single to left that drove in Andreopoulos.
A tiring Hinchliffe walked Bill McGonigle to load the bases and was replaced by Jeff Pearce.
Pearce hit Krause with a pitch on an 0-2 pitch to force in the Ports' sixth run.
The JetHawks broke through in the seventh on Jason Cook's runscoring single that made it 6-2.
Hinchliffe (3-3) failed in his attempt to become the JetHawks' second four-game winner (Chris Beck was the first). He gave 11 hits and six runs, all earned.
Smith, on the other hand, was able to scatter the eight Lancaster hits in his fourth start of the year. He walked two and struck out four, giving up one earned run.
A spot starter for Stockton, Smith came into the game with a 2.04 ERA in 35 1/3 innings pitched.
Lancaster catcher Andy Augustine, appearing in his seventh game of the season, had two hits and a walk in his first three atbats.
Went from first place on May 2 (18-9, 1½ games ahead) to fourth place as of today (19-21, four games behind Lake Elsinore)
Been outscored 107-59
Committed 30 errors - 2.5 per game
Been outhit 114-101
13-straight games allowed five or more runs
Starters averaged 5 2/3 innings per outing
Have lost seven-straight games at The Hangar
Are 1-4 on the road
Are 1-8 against Southern Division opponents and are 0-4 against division leaders Lake Elsinore and San Bernardino