'Hawks top Gardner in rehab stint

Lancaster improved to 2-0 in games against major league pitchers as it beat San Francisco ace Mark Gardner

Entering Wednesday's game, the JetHawks had a 5-14 record in their three-plus seasons when they traveled to the Bay Area to face the Giants.

The last thing they needed was to face a major league starter on a rehabilitation assignment.

Or was it?

Despite falling in a three-run hole against San Jose and San Francisco starter Mark Gardner, Lancaster rebounded to tie the game against Gardner and went on to grab a 9-5 victory.

"I just told these guys to be aggressive and take their swings and that's what they did," JetHawks manager Darrin Garner said. "He's a good pitcher, but we don't have to let him control the game."

Garner may have provided his team with just the emotional lift it needed when he was ejected by home-plate umpire Ray Villeneuve with two outs in the top of the fourth inning for arguing balls and strikes.

The ejection, which was Lancaster's first of the year, seemed to boost the JetHawks to three runs off Gardner, allowing them to tie the game. They went on to score two more runs in the sixth to grab the victory.

"It kind of kicked them in the butt a little," Garner said. "They're always intense, but they stepped up the intensity a little after that."

The win ended a two-game losing streak for the JetHawks and kept them perfect in games when they face a major league pitcher. Lancaster also won an April 15 game against San Bernardino when Dodgers reliever Antonio Osuna pitched the first two innings.

Gardner went four innings, though he'd probably like to overlook the last two.

The right-hander, who was San Francisco's opening day starter before developing a sore shoulder and being placed on the disabled list April 17, mowed through the first two innings, needing only 23 pitches. He did allow two base runners in the first frame when he hit Joel Ramirez with a pitch and Mike Marchiano reached on a fielder's choice.

Other than that, Gardner started the game showing better command of his breaking pitch than he did in his two major league starts, when he posted an 0-2 record with an 11.77 ERA.

Lancaster finally started to get to him in the third, though, when Jermaine Clark picked up a oneout infield single and scored on Luis Figueroa's base hit back up the middle. That was the third Lancaster hit of the inning.

The JetHawks got three more hits and a walk off Gardner in the fourth, all of which came with two outs in the stanza and helped erase what was a 4-1 San Jose lead at the time.

"Everybody was excited to face him," Ramirez said. "He's a major league pitcher, so he's not going to make too many bad pitches. . . We're going to play as hard as we can, no matter who we're facing."

Gardner left with the game tied, 4-4, after allowing four earned runs on six hits and a walk. He did strike out seven, though, and threw 75 of his scheduled 85 pitches.

The major leaguer's pitching hand may have been bruised on a strange infield hit by Shawn McCorkle, though. McCorkle ended up stepping on Gardner's hand while he was covering first base. He is expected to be examined today.

Gardner was originally scheduled to throw in the bullpen Saturday, and, if that went well, rejoin San Francisco on Tuesday.

McCorkle's base hit came one pitch after Garner was ejected following a called third strike on Gerald Eady.

After Craig Kuzmic drew a walk, Clark singled in McCorkle to draw the JetHawks within two runs. Ramirez then doubled in the tying runs with a shot down the left-field line.

Lancaster took the lead, 5-4, in the sixth when Kuzmic blasted a double off the center-field wall to score Eady. Kuzmic also scored on a Ramirez single back up the middle.

Jason Turman (1-2) got his first win of the season after allowing four runs, three of which were earned, on six hits and five strikeouts. Justin Kaye worked the eighth and ninth innings to pick up his fourth save of the season.