By CHRIS BRANAM
Valley Press Staff Writer
LAKE ELSINORE - Injury forced Joe Victery from the Lancaster JetHawks' starting Rotation.
Performances like the one Tuesday night might get him back in.
Even though the JetHawks lost 5-4 to the Lake Elsinore Storm to split the four-game series in front of a paid attendance of 5,101 at The Diamond, Victery threw shutout ball over 4 2/3 innings.
With a regular spot in the rotation up for grabs with the demotion of Javier Gutierrez to the bullpen, Victery wanted a quality outing to merit consideration.
After starting the season in the bullpen, Victery became a starter in mid-May and had a strong start to the second half.
But an elbow injury landed him on the disabled list on July 4. He came back on July 18 and has been coming out of the pen.
"I'm pretty pumped up," Victery said after giving up just two hits and striking out two. "I'm still not 100 percent. "I'm a little timid, but I still hit some spots."
The JetHawks (20-12) got some help from the Stockton Ports in the Valley Division standings. The Ports defeated first-place Modesto and Lancaster remains just three games behind the A's.
While Victery was hot, the other pitcher who had hoped for a good outing struggled.
Right-hander Eric Morgan was only expected to pitch about three innings and then be replaced by Victery. Morgan had control problems in the second and third, however, and left 2 1/3 innings.
He walked three straight Storm hitters to load the bases in the third, and two scored on sacrifice flies by Paul Failla and Todd Barlok, respectively.
Victery, who did a pretty good job of getting out of the jam, then shut down Lake Elsinore for the next three innings.
That effort helped the JetHawks get back into the game.
Swinging on a 3-0 count, Tarrik Brock singled home Luis Molina in the fifth to cut the Storm's lead to 5-4.
The JetHawks then had a golden opportunity in the seventh to tie the game. With one out, Joe Mathis walked and Brock singled off reliever Greg Johnson.
Johnson had just replaced starter Josh Deakman, who gave up three runs on five hits and struck out seven. Johnson struck out Jason Regan and got James Clifford to pop out to end the threat.
The JetHawks took a 2-0 lead in the second off Deakman. Cirilo Cruz doubled for the third straight game and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Then Jim Horner slammed his sixth homer over the right field wall. Deakman made things interesting by hitting the next batter, Joel Ramirez, in the back.
Ramirez was one of two JetHawks Deakman hit. He also nailed Regan on the shoulder in the first.
The Storm tied the game in the bottom of the second when Cale Carter ripped a two-run double down the left field line.
That hit signaled the end of Morgan's effectiveness. He only got three of the next nine Lake Elsinore hitters out and was charged with five runs.
He walked five and struck out three.