JetHawks can't be fooled

Lancaster tattoos knuckleballer

But what might be surprising is how suddenly the Lancaster JetHawks were able to figure out San Bernardino knuckler Paul Morse in their 8-1 victory Tuesday before an announced crowd of 2,363 on a chilly night at The Hangar.

The JetHawks (28-24) used another solid outing from Patrick Dunham and six San Bernardino errors to move four games above .500 for the first time this season.

For four innings Tuesday, Morse (2-7) appeared to have Lancaster baffled. The JetHawks didn't even hit a ball out of the infield until Luis Tinoco scorched a single into left field with two outs in the fourth.

"This is the first time we've seen a knuckleballer this year," JetHawks manager Rick Burleson said. "It took a little while for us to get the timing Down."

In the fifth inning, Lancaster finally solved the riddle, touching Morse for three hits and four runs in the frame.

Ramon Vazquez, who grounded into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the second inning, drew a leadoff walk in the fifth. He took second base on Karl Thompson's groundout before scoring on Adonis Harrison's RBI single.

Harrison also moved to second on a groundout, this time by Marcus Sturdivant, before scoring on Cirilo Cruz's single.

Jason Regan got the biggest hit of the night when he took Morse to a full count before crushing a knuckleball over the left-center field wall. The two-run homer was Regan's ninth of the season.

"You know that with the count 3-2 or when he gets behind, he's going to give you a knuckleball, because that's his best pitch," Regan said. "You hope he just floats one in there."

Although Dunham (6-3) didn't have his best stuff of the season, he still managed to keep the Stampede off-balance offensively. He scattered six hits and four walks over 7 1/3 innings. He struck out five San Bernardino batters while allowing only one earned run.

"Dunham did a nice job of holding them down, and our defense has been getting better," Burleson said.

Dunham got into trouble a couple of times, including in the first inning when Ramon Moreta reached third with only one out in the inning. Dunham also walked Rich Saitta, but got Henry Blanco to send a grounder toward Regan at third base. Regan fired to second to retire Saitta, before Harrison made a nice turn to get Blanco at first to end the inning.

"I have no doubt that I have the best defense in the league behind me," Dunham said.

The Stampede also left the bases loaded in the fourth when Ricky Bell grounded out to third.

San Bernardino, the lowest scoring team in the Cal League, finally got to Dunham in the eighth when he walked Ismael Gallo and Blanco before giving way to Brian Sweeney. Sweeney allowed an RBI single to Nick Leach, but retired the next two batters to end the threat.

San Bernardino had its trouble in the field, as five different players committed an error.

The low point came in the seventh, as Lancaster scored two runs and stretched its lead to 6-0 despite not getting a hit in the inning. The runs were courtesy of two Stampede miscues.