JetHawks finally protect a lead

By DAVE RASBACH
Valley Press Staff Writer

But holding them? That's a completely different story.

Like they did a number of times during a streak that saw the team drop 10 of 11 games entering play Saturday, the JetHawks were able to claim a lead over the San Jose Giants before 4,174 fans at Lancaster Municipal Stadium. But this time they were able to make it stand.

Spurred by Jason Regan's three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, Lancaster held on for a 7-5 victory to snap a three-game losing streak.

Regan, who drove in five runs in the game, may have saved his best for last, though, as he helped the JetHawks protect the victory with an outstanding defensive play at third base in the ninth inning.

After Jason Turman walked the first two batters of the ninth, Regan, who was playing in to protect against a bunt from William Otero, dove and snared a hard-hit grounder down the left-field line. He gathered himself and stepped on third base for the first out of the frame.

"We had the fake wheel on, and he hit it to my back-hand side," Regan said of the play. "It was just a reaction. Then I wanted to make sure I got at least one out."

But the game wasn't over until center fielder Harvey Hargrove tracked down a towering fly ball off the bat of Brett Cooper with his back against the wall for the final out of the game. Cooper represented the go-ahead run.

"(My heart) was beating pretty fast on that play," JetHawks manager Darrin Garner said. "That ball was hit good, and I was like not again, not again. But Harvey made the play."

Turman, who held the Giants scoreless for the final three innings, got his first save of the season, and his second as a professional.

"It feels good," Turman said. "I was trying not to think about it at the time, but we needed to hold on to this game."

Brandon Parker, who allowed three earned runs on six hits and two walks through six innings while striking out seven, collected the win to improve to 7-4.

The JetHawks, who already have clinched the first losing season in franchise history, improved to 13-24 in the second half and 36-71 overall.

Protecting leads has not been easy for the team of late. During their recently completed ninegame road trip, the JetHawks watched as five sure wins turned into losses. Three times they lost leads of three or more runs late in the game.

Lancaster has now allowed a combined 40 runs from the seventh inning on in the last 12 games, and has pitched shutout ball in the seventh, eighth and ninth only twice during that run.

And when Regan belted his ninth home run since joining the team at the all-star break to break a 3-3 tie, the JetHawks were in the familiar position of holding a lead late in the game.

"It was a 2-2 pitch, and I was just trying to see the ball, hit the ball," Regan said. "He threw me a slow curveball, and I just tried to get my bat on it. When I was rounding the bases, their third baseman asked how I hit that pitch out."

Jerry Amador parlayed a leadoff double into an insurance run on Wilfredo Quintana's groundout in the sixth.

But San Jose cut that four-run lead in half with pinch-hitter Marco Pernalete's two-run homer off Parker in the top of the seventh, and once again planted the seed for another blown lead by Lancaster.

"I wasn't thinking about it out there," Regan said. "But it's certainly in the back of your mind."

The JetHawks already had lost one lead Saturday, after they scored three runs in the bottom of the third to take a 3-1 advantage. Patrick Williams' bases-loaded single scored Marco Estrada to tie the game, before Regan picked up two RBI with a two-out, bases-loaded double.

San Jose responded in the top of the fourth with Ismael Reynoso's ground-rule double with the bases loaded to tie the game at 3-3.

Uploaded August 2, 1999