Bieniasz, McCorkle slam 'Hawks past A's

By DAVE RASBACH
Valley Press Staff Writer

Then again, neither were the fourth, fifth or sixth times. Not even number seven was lucky for the Lancaster right-hander.

But in his eighth start for the JetHawks, Bieniasz finally got the breakthrough he was looking for.

Thanks to a solid spot start by Bieniasz and a third-inning grand slam by Shawn McCorkle, the JetHawks broke a two-game losing skid with a 10-2 win over the Modesto A's before an announced crowd of 2,010 on a chilly early June evening at Lancaster Municipal Stadium.

"I won't lie about it," Bieniasz said. "It puts a smile on my face."

The JetHawks reached the 20win plateau and avoided falling a franchise-worst 16 games under .500 with the win.

Bieniasz, who received the start after the JetHawks had to shuffle their rotation in response to an injury suffered by Brandon Parker, picked up his first victory in eight tries as a starter.

"As a spot starter, all I wanted to do was come in and give my team a chance to win," Bieniasz said. "I hope I did that."

Entering Thursday, Bieniasz was 0-7 with a 8.42 ERA in his first seven starts this year, allowing 29 runs, 45 hits and 12 walks in 31 innings pitched while striking out 14.

The 24-year-old native of Toronto did have a couple of good outings during the stretch, though, including ending up on the short end of a 1-0 loss to San Jose on May 6 after allowing a solo homer to the second batter of the game.

But unlike in that game, Bieniasz got some offensive support Thursday.

"We wanted to help Derek out, and everything just seemed to click," McCorkle said.

The JetHawks continued to pound the Modesto tandem of Mark Seaver (5-3) and Mike Holmes, just like they did in a 14-3 win over the A's on Sunday at John Thurman Field. In that game, Lancaster tagged Holmes and Seaver for 14 of its seasonhigh 16 hits and 12 of its 14 runs.

The tandem, which had been considered the A's most consistent until their last two outings, combined to allow nine runs on 12 hits and a walk Thursday while striking out only two.

They were no match for Bieniasz, who held the A's to two earned runs on seven hits and no walks while striking out four in seven innings of work - his longest outing of the season.

Bieniasz showed marksmanship-like control, throwing 63 of his 85 pitches for strikes. He retired 15 of the last 19 batters he faced and averaged 85 mph on his pitches.

"He was like the old Bieniasz," said JetHawks manager Darrin Garner, who worked with the pitcher last year at rookie-level Peoria. "He was like the same guy I saw before. . . He was spotting all his pitches well."

But as sharp as Bieniasz was, it was the A's that struck first with Jesus Basabe's two-run double in the top of the second inning.

The JetHawks came back to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning. Matt Sachse drove in Ricky Magdaleno, who had his second consecutive three-hit game, then scored on the first of three Modesto errors.

Lancaster broke open the game with six runs in the third on four hits and an error.

Cirilo Cruz gave the JetHawks the lead with his RBI single past shortstop Caonabo Cosme, before McCorkle put the exclamation point on the inning with his grand slam. The homer, McCorkle's fifth of the season, was Lancaster's first grand slam of the season.

In all, the JetHawks had six players with multi-hit games.

"They kept up what they started offensively last night," Garner said. "They stayed loose and they kept playing hard."