The Lancaster JetHawks, trailing by five runs entering the bottom of the ninth, almost came back to beat the Modesto A's for the second-straight night in their last at-bat, but they fell one run short.
Modesto reliever Chris Michalak struck out James Clifford with the tying run on third to close out an 8-7 victory in front of what was left of a paid attendance of 5,677 at The Hangar Saturday night.
Lancaster (23-27) almost came all the way back from a 5-1 deficit and saw its brief two-game winning streak end.
"We gave (the A's) the middle innings," Lancaster manager Dave Brundage said. "It was evident that we were in cruise control and giving away at-bats, not really ready to hit or pitch."
The JetHawks' comeback in the ninth began when Matt Walsh walked Andy Augustine.
Luis Molina then hit a grounder to third baseman Jeff D'Amico, who threw wildly to second in an attempted force.
Marcus Sturdivant walked to load the bases, and reliever Jason Rojette came on to face Shane Monahan.
Monahan walked, forcing in a run. Scot Sealy followed with a two-run single to center that made it 8-6.
Jose Cruz Jr., pinch-hitting for Jesus Marquez, singled up the middle to make it 8-7, which knocked Rojette from the game.
The JetHawks left nine on base and got just five hits.
Modesto took a 1-0 lead in the first on Dave Newhan's sixth homer of the season.
The JetHawks tied the game in the second. Sealy hit a triple into the right-field corner and scored on Marquez's sacrifice fly to center field.
But the A's came back with a four-run fourth off Lancaster starter Brett Hinchliffe.
Miguel Tejada, who turned 20 on Saturday, and Ben Grieve both singled to open the inning. One out later, Mark Moore hit an RBI single to left that scored Tejada.
D'Amico then singled to left to score Grieve and make it 3-1.
After Hinchliffe got Dave Madsen to hit a grounder back to him for the second out, Mike Neill ripped a double down the left-field line, scoring two runs and extending the lead to 5-1.
Hinchliffe settled down after that, however, shutting the A's out over the next two innings.
He did give up a double to Neill in the sixth that gave the JetHawks a sense of deja vu.
Neill's drive to left bounced on the warning track and over the wall, but the home plate umpire ruled the hit a home run.
Unlike Sealy's "homer" that bounced over the wall Thursday night, however, Neill's ball was ruled a ground-rule double by the base umpire.
Before giving way to John Daniels to start the seventh, Hinchliffe gave up five runs on nine hits, struck out seven and walked one.
In his last two starts, both against Modesto, Hinchliffe has struck out 16 and walked three.
The JetHawks chipped away at the A's lead with single runs in the fifth and sixth off Modesto starter Curtis Shaw.
Molina hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to make it 5-2 in the fifth.
Shaw appeared to tire in the sixth. Jason Cook and Monahan opened the half-inning with backto-back singles, and Sealy walked.
Marquez picked up his second RBI of the night when he hit into a fielder's choice that forced Sealy at second but drove in Cook.
Shaw struck out Clifford on a slow breaking ball and Mike Lanza grounded out.
The JetHawks also put runners on in the seventh against reliever Matt Walsh.
Augustine led off with a walk, and after two strikeouts, Cook walked for the second time in the game. But Monahan hit a grounder to Tejada at shortstop, who stepped on second to end the inning.
The A's scored their sixth run in the eighth, when the JetHawks used three pitchers.
After Daniels walked Madsen with one out, he was replaced by Jeff Pearce, who walked Neill.
One out later, Newhan hit a grounder to Clifford, whose flip to first was dropped by Pearce as he crossed first base.
Clint Gould replaced Pearce and Tejada had an RBI infield single to make it 6-3.
Gould gave up two more runs in the ninth, including an RBI infield single by Neill that made it 8-3.