By CHRIS BRANAM
Valley Press Staff Writer
LANCASTER - Jeff Farnsworth's arrival in Lancaster was delayed.
His departure from Thursday night's game was not.
The Bakersfield Blaze beat up on Farnsworth, who was making his third start of the year after spending an unscheduled three extra weeks in extended spring training, scoring eight times before Farnsworth could get out of the second inning.
Bakersfield went on to beat the JetHawks 11-6 in a game that took 3 hours and 40 minutes to complete. Only about a couple hundred of the 4,513 fans who showed up on a chilly evening were there at the end, when Luis Molina popped out with the bases loaded and the potential tying run on deck.
Farnsworth had a couple of physical problems that forced him to start the season at the Mariners' spring training complex in Peoria, Ariz., instead of on the mound opening day at The Hangar.
He was nursing a sore right shoulder when he came down with a nasty stomach virus. Farnsworth must have had a sick feeling in his stomach after he could only get five outs before being replaced.
The JetHawks (13-15) never came back from that early 8-1 deficit, although they did cut it to three, 8-5, on James Clifford's tworun homer in the fifth.
Clifford added a solo homer in the ninth, giving him three homers in two nights. Dusty Wathan and Luis Molina also hit homers for the JetHawks, who finished 4-5 on the homestand.
They begin a 12-game road trip tonight at Visalia.
The Blaze rallied early against Farnsworth, who hasn't pitched well in two of three starts for Lancaster.
He gave up seven hits and struck out only one before being replaced by Brian Sweeney with two outs in the top half of the second.
Tim Cooper ripped a three-run homer to center field in the first, and then Farnsworth gave up three straight hits, threw a wild pitch and gave up a sacrifice fly in the second as Bakersfield took a 6-1 lead.
After giving up one run in six innings at San Bernardino on April 20 in his JetHawks debut, Farnsworth was charged with 11 runs in his last 7 2/3 innings. His ERA has risen to 7.90.
Wathan hit an opposite field homer in the second, his third, off Blaze starter Ryan Jensen, who then left the game with an unknown injury.
Jeff Hutzler replaced Jensen and gave up a two-out homer to Molina. It was Molina's third of the year; he only had three in his first four minor league seasons.
The Blaze took advantage of wildness by reliever Jason Bond to score twice in the sixth to take an 11-5 lead.
Bond took over for Brian Sweeney with two on and no out. Brian Manning beat out a double play ball at first to put runners on first and third.
Bond threw a wild pitch, scoring Glendenning. Then, he walked Art Baeza, hit Jonathan Watson in the foot with a pitch and walked Carlos Campusano with the bases loaded to force in the Blaze's 38th run of the series.
Wathan was hit on the right wrist in the ninth. The severity of his injury isn't yet known; JetHawks trainer Troy McIntosh said Wathan would probably have the wrist X-rayed.