Rockets burns 'Hawks

L.A. Valdes pushes Lancaster into tie

But with all the major leaguers playing in Thursday's game, it would have been easy for the Lancaster JetHawks to feel like they were playing at Chavez Ravine.

The Stampede rode the coattails of major league pitcher Ismael Valdes and infielder Tripp Cromer to a 4-2 victory over the JetHawks before 3,591 fans at The Ranch.

"You don't like to face those kinds of guys at this time of the year when you're fighting for something," JetHawks manager Rick Burleson said. "But I've been around long enough to know that's what happens... We're not going to make any excuses."

The loss was costly for the JetHawks, who fell back into a tie with Modesto in the Valley Division wildcard race. The A's completed a series sweep over High Deseret when Adam Piatt hit a tie-breaking two-run homer in a 3-1 Modesto victory at John Thurman Field.

Lancaster wraps up the regular season with a three-game series at High Desert, which has now lost six straight, beginning tonight. Modesto begins a three-game set against San Jose at home.

The JetHawks just hope they don't have to face any more major league players on rehabilitation assignments like they did Thursday night.

Valdes opened strong in his second start since suffering a strained oblique muscle that landed him on the disabled list July 27. He needed only 21 pitches to retire the first six batters he faced in the game.

"My breaking ball and slider weren't working," Valdes said. "But my fastball and changeup were pretty good."

Karl Thompson finally broke through against Valdes with a bloop single into right field. Anton French followed with another single, before Joel Ramirez's flare scored Thompson.

Jayson Bass added another run in the top of the fourth when he doubled off Valdes, stole third base, and scored on Thompson's second of three singles off Valdes.

Even though those were the only two runs the JetHawks managed off the Dodger right-hander, they did record seven hits and drew one walk during his 6 1/3 innings of work.

"It was an excellent experience for me," Valdes said. "It's what I needed. The best thing for me is I went into the seventh inning."

Valdes threw 92 pitches during the stint, 68 of which were for strikes, and struck out four. He also picked up a victory in his Cal League debut.

"I don't think there's a big difference between pitchers on the major league level and on this level other than their ability to locate pitches and how sharp they are," Burleson said.

While Valdes, who was 9-9 with a 3.92 ERA with Los Angeles this season prior to the injury, was definitely the more publicized Dodger playing in Thursday's game, Cromer was the one who caused the most damage.

Cromer, who is expected to stay with the Stampede through the last three games of the season, is attempting to come off a pulled quadriceps muscle that landed him on the disabled list July 31. He has had only four at-bats with the Dodgers this season.

Cromer showed almost no effect from either injury Thursday as he rocketed a laser past Lancaster shortstop Ramon Vazquez in the bottom of the first to score Rich Saitta from third base with the first run of the game.

Two innings later, Cromer drove in Saitta again, this time with a two-run homer over the left-center field wall. That blast made the score 3-1 San Bernardino.

"I was looking for a fastball in," Cromer said. "He gave it to me. It was a good guess."

Cromer finished the night 2-for3 with the home run, a run scored and three RBI.

"He hurt us with those three RBI and the home run," Burleson said. "But he could have just as easily gone 0-for."

The only other Stampede RBI of the game went to Jeff Bramlett, whose double scored Ricky Bell in the bottom of the fourth. The hit ended Bramlett's 0-for-30 slide, in which Bramlett had struck out 23 times, and also was his first hit against Lancaster in 20 trips to the plate.

Jordan Zimmerman took the loss for Lancaster, even though he pitched relatively well. He allowed the four earned runs on six hits and three walks and struck out four in 5 2/3 innings.