Law of averages turns in Thompson's favor

Adrian Beltre hit a tworun homer as L.A. avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over Florida

Lancaster starter John Thompson and Bakersfield starter Jesse Travis entered Thursday's game at Sam Lynn Ballpark with matching 0-5 records.

The law of averages said one of the two had a good chance to come away with a victory. That's exactly what happened, as John Thompson pitched five strong innings in the stifling Bakersfield heat to help the JetHawks to an 11-7 victory.

Even though the JetHawks jumped out to a 10-2 lead after the top of the sixth inning, they needed 3 1/3 outstanding innings from Kevin Gryboski to hold on to the victory. Gryboski, who has been the JetHawks' most consistent reliever of late, allowed only one hit to pick up his fourth save of the season.

"Gryboski's performance was the story of this game," JetHawks manager Rick Burleson said. "He was outstanding."

As was Thompson, who allowed only two earned runs on five hits. More importantly, Thompson did not allow a walk, as he struck out four to pick up his first win in seven starts in a Lancaster uniform.

"I really didn't care if I got the win, as long as our team got the win," Thompson said. "This win was big for us because we're in a playoff race."

That race became a dead heat Thursday as Modesto was a 9-4 loser to Visalia. Lancaster and Modesto, which are battling for the Valley Division playoff wild-card berth, now have matching 66-58 records overall.

"Consistency is the key for us," Burleson said. "We have to keep trying to win every series, and everything will take care of itself."

Lancaster used a six-run second inning to take control of the game early. The inning was highlighted by five walks from Travis and Jason Regan's two-run homer. Lancaster recorded just two hits in the frame.

Thompson shut the Blaze down until the fifth inning when Bakersfield touched him for two runs. But the JetHawks scored four in the top of the sixth to build an eightrun advantage.

Brian Fitzgerald came on in relief of Thompson in the sixth and struggled. Teo Prospero hit a grand slam to draw the Blaze back within four, before Josh Tyler drove in Clay Greene to make the score 10-7.

"Fitzy couldn't find his spot," Burleson said. "That just happens sometimes. But Gryboski did a good job of coming in and shutting them down."

Thursday's game almost didn't happen, though, when all the electricity to Sam Lynn Ballpark disappeared at 6:30 p.m. - one hour before game time. More than 3,000 homes and businesses were affected by the blackout, according to Pacific Gas and Electric.

The delay came two nights after Tuesday's game was stopped in the bottom of the first inning by a freak dust storm.

Fortunately, considering the game was the last between the teams this season, the power was restored at 7:15 p.m. The first pitch came at 7:53 p.m., 23 minutes after the originally scheduled start time.

Bakersfield committed four errors in the game, which gave them an unlucky total of 13 in the threegame series.

Surprisingly, Lancaster had only seven hits in the game, but drew 11 walks off five Bakersfield pitchers. Bakersfield had 10 hits and two walks.