By CHRIS BRANAM
Valley Press Staff Writer
LANCASTER - Where they used to be explosive, the Lancaster JetHawks have suddenly turned listless.
Manager Rick Burleson wants to know why.
"Not a lot of life on the bench," Burleson said Wednesday after the JetHawks' 5-3 loss to Modesto at The Hangar. "We just haven't looked like the same club the last two games. We've just got to pick it up a notch in every area."
Burleson had a right to be disappointed with the loss, the JetHawks' second in a row that dropped them to 22-25 on the season. They threatened in the seventh and eighth innings but came up with nothing against Modesto's bullpen.
Lancaster put two runners on in both innings but couldn't score against Modesto relievers Pete Della Ratta, Kevin Gunther and Todd Bussa.
The JetHawks even caught a break in the ninth when Gunther (3-0, five saves) hurt himself on his first pitch and had to leave the game. Bussa came on and proceeded to strike out two before Chris Dean collected his third single of the game.
But Bussa picked up his third save by getting Lancaster's hottest hitter, Carlos Villalobos, to ground out to end it. The A's (24-19) have won three straight.
"We didn't do much against their (bullpen) in Modesto," Burleson said. "They've got a good pen."
Even when Lancaster's offense seemed to spark, the JetHawks couldn't get that one hit that would lead to a big inning.
They took a 2-0 lead in the first and had a runner on first against Modesto starter Tom Bennett (2-4) but watched as two straight hitters struck out to end the inning.
Bennett went on to shut the JetHawks down over the next four innings. The only other run he gave up was Miguel Correa's ninth homer, a solo shot to left-center field.
That was only the JetHawks' second hit after the first inning against Bennett. Villalobos singled in the third to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.
While the Lancaster offense couldn't click, Matt Apana felt he was just one pitch away from a good outing.
Apana (0-1) was making his first start since last July as he continues a comeback from shoulder surgery. The right-hander gave up two runs in the fourth, highlighted by Troy Penix's ground-rule double that tied the game 2-2.
"I just didn't have enough zip in (my fastball) to get it by him," Apana said. "It was just an inning where I was tired and lost focus."
Apana was relieved by Joe Victery, who normally would have started. Victery had a good outing, giving up two runs and striking out six in 4 1/3 innings.
Modesto catcher A.J. Hinch, the former Stanford All-American, went 3-for-5 with a homer and two RBI.