Kirkreit pushed around by A's as 'Hawks lose

Despite a satisfying home run by Patrick Williams, Modesto made easy work of Lancaster, disposing of the JetHawks 9-3 in front of 2,612 fans, leaving the Hangar 16,839 patrons short of its one-millionth fan.

Williams quickly is becoming a crowd favorite. For the second straight game, he homered in the bottom of the sixth inning, earning the home crowd free bags of peanuts. It was Williams' fourth homer in three games.

Unfortunately, it was too little too late as the A's jumped on Lancaster starter Daron Kirkreit early. Modesto cashed in four runs on five hits, including three for extra bases in the opening inning.

Omar Rosario started the frenzy with a one-out triple to right-center. Eric Byrnes plated Rosario with a double to left-center as the A's (10-5, 54-31) took a 1-0 lead.

One out later, Oscar Salazar tripled in Byrnes, and jogged home on Gary Thomas' single and Caonabo Cosme's RBI single capped off the four-run inning.

"It's tough to fall behind," Lancaster manager Darrin Garner said. "(Kirkreit) got a lot of pitches up, and if you don't locate your pitches against this team, you're in trouble.

"Their one through nine hitters swing the bat pretty good."

Kirkreit (1-3) did strike out the side in the opening frame, and seemed to settle down until a disastrous fourth inning.

But Rosario struck again, smashing a two-run homer to center, increasing Modesto's lead to 7-0. One out later, Jacques Landry unloaded a rocket to left-center that pushed the lead to 8-0. It was Landry's 17th homer, tying him for the league lead.

One bright spot for Lancaster (28-57) was designated hitter Gerardo Amador, who made his first start after being promoted from Class A Everett earlier in the week.

The 19-year-old Puerto Rican went 2-for-5 in his JetHawks debut. After striking out in the first inning, Amador singled to right in his second at-bat, and beat out a high chopper to third base in the fifth.

Modesto starter Jeff Schultz (1-4) pitched five shutout innings for his first win of the season.

Alexander Fernandez had a strong night offensively, going 2for-4 with two doubles.

Uploaded July 9, 1999