By CHRIS BRANAM
Valley Press Staff Writer
LANCASTER - He went from exhilaration to disappointment in the blink of a pitch.
Denny Bonilla, whose carefree enthusiasm has endeared him to Lancaster JetHawks fans this season, looked like he was going to escape from a bases-loaded jam in the top of the ninth Thursday night against the Modesto A's.
He had punctuated two straight strikeouts with pumping fists. But pinch-hitter Juan Polanca was the one high-fiving teammates just seconds later, after he ripped a grand slam that gave the A's a 12-9 win over the JetHawks at The Hangar.
Modesto hit two grand slams to take the second game of the series involving the top two teams in the Valley Division. The A's (11-3) took a two-game lead over the JetHawks (9-5) in the standings.
The wild game featured 26 hits, six pitching changes, eight walks, 21 strikeouts and four important home runs.
T.R. Marcinczyk socked a grand slam in the third that gave the A's a 5-0 lead, but the JetHawks climbed back and went ahead 8-6 in the seventh on Carlos Villalobos' three-run homer.
The game was far from over.
Modesto scored twice in the top of the eighth to tie the game. Lancaster came back to take a 9-8 lead in the bottom of the inning on Joe Mathis' third hit in as many atbats, a double that scored Tarrik Brock.
That set the stage for the ninth. Bonilla, the JetHawks' fourth pitcher, walked Jose Castro to lead off the inning, and A.J. Hinch singled.
Bonilla (6-6) intentionally walked Marcinczyk to load the bases, but then he struck out Juan Dilone and Mario Encarnacion to put the JetHawks on the threshold of a first-place tie.
Polanco ended those hopes with a blast over the left-field fence. It was only his third homer for the A's.
James Clifford kept what was left of the paid attendance of 4,051 on the edge of their seats with a single to lead off the bottom of the ninth, but Modesto's Kevin Gunther got the next three outs to record his 10th save.
Even though he gave up two earned runs and Villalobos' homer, Todd Bussa (5-4) got the win.
The JetHawks were shut down in the early going by Julian Leyva, a right-hander from Riverside who won't turn 20 until next February.
Leyva threw three shutout innings before giving up two runs in the fourth on Josh Watts' double. He also gave up two runs in the fifth, one of which came on Mathis' ninth triple of the year.
Mathis and Brock both had three hits for the JetHawks. Brock had a bunt single in the eighth that preceded Mathis' RBI double.
Kevin Gryboski started for the JetHawks. He gave up five runs on six hits in three innings.