JetHawks unable to keep up with Jones

Tim Jones hit two home runs and Tim Manwiller picked up his 10th win as Modesto beat Lancaster.

Jones hit two solo home runs to lead the A's to an 8-4 win over the Lancaster JetHawks before 2,104 fans at John Thurman Field.

The loss ended the JetHawks' two-game win streak and dropped their record on their 13-game road trip to 3-5.

The main culprit in ending the JetHawks' winning streak was Jones, who entered Friday batting only .198 with two home runs and 13 RBI. Jones doubled his home run total and finished Friday 2-for-3 with two RBI, two runs scored, and a walk.

"We got the ball over the plate to a good fastball hitter, and he hit two rockets to the biggest part of the park," JetHawks manager Rick Burleson said.

Part of the reason for his troubles earlier in the season was his 8 1/2-week stint on the disabled list with a broken collar bone. Jones suffered the injury in a May 9 game against Bakersfield, when he attempted what would have been a game-winning steal of home.

Unfortunately for Jones and the A's, Blaze catcher Tim Flaherty did a good job of blocking the plate. Flaherty prevented Jones from scoring and the resulting collision snapped Jones' collar bone.

"It's a play I've tried a couple of times before and didn't get hurt on," Jones said. "But this time I did. When I was hurt I got the chance to sit back and take a look at how I approach the game and realized I didn't have to do things like that to help my team win."

Unfortunately, the pain didn't stop for Jones once he returned from the injury. Thursday night, the left fielder got caught up on the outfield wall while chasing Ramon Vazquez's fifth-inning triple, cutting his hand. That injury required four stitches.

"It actually felt pretty good (Friday)," Jones said. "It didn't bother me except for check swings."

Instead, it was Jones that put the hurt on the JetHawks.

The left-hander crushed a leadoff homer over the left-center field wall in the bottom of the second, stretching Modesto's lead to 4-1.

Lancaster attempted a comeback in the top of the fourth when Jayson Bass bashed his 10th home run of the season over the right-center field fence. The homer, which drove in Brendan Kingman, brought Lancaster within one run, 4-3.

"I think momentum was on our side after that hit," Bass said.

But Jones had an answer, sending a near carbon copy of his first home run to left-center field with one out in the bottom half of the inning.

"I guess it was a little vindication," Jones said. "It certainly feels good to help this team win."

Both of Jones' home runs came off Lancaster starter John Thompson, who suffered his second consecutive rough outing since joining the JetHawks from Class AA Orlando. Thompson entered the game with a 32.40 ERA, and it looked like that number might actually rise a little when he allowed three runs on three hits in the first inning.

"It seemed like he was behind hitters a lot," Burleson said. "Every time you looked up he was down 2-0 or 3-1. . . When he locates his pitches, he can be very effective."

Adam Piatt singled in Nathan Haynes to erase the JetHawks' early 1-0 lead before Hipolito Martinez tripled in Cody McKay and Piatt with a shot into the left-field corner.

"We couldn't get the third out," Burleson said. "If we could have held them to one run, it would have been a different game."

Thompson fell to 0-2, allowing seven runs, five of which were earned, on seven hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings.

Modesto starter Tim Manwiller held Lancaster to four runs on five hits and three walks in his six innings, winning for the 10th time this season and tying him for the league lead.