Turman hopes to scratch name in Lancaster's rotation again

Emerging from the bullpen to take over for suspended starter Brandon Parker, Jason Turman shut down Rancho Cucamonga.

By MIKE STREET
Valley Press Staff Writer

Unfortunately, it meant that Brandon Parker didn't make his scheduled start, a product of his suspension by the Cal League for three games for hitting Lake Elsinore's Jason Dewey with a pitch last Friday.

Fortunately for the JetHawks, Turman turned in the kind of performance that usually had been expected from Parker.

Turman tossed five strong innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out three as Lancaster blasted five home runs to support his cause in a 13-7 victory over Rancho Cucamonga in front of 3,048 fans Thursday night at The Hangar.

"I liked everything I saw from (Turman)," JetHawks pitching coach Greg Harris said. "He got his changeup back tonight and he had a real strong fastball, too."

Since being assigned to Lancaster out of extended spring training April 14, Turman (4-9) had gone 1-8 as a starter. After a July 7 start against Rancho, the 6-foot-10 right-hander was placed on the disabled list with elbow tendinitis.

When Turman came off the DL on June 27 against Visalia, he was designated for the bullpen.

But if his performance Thursday night is any indication, he's making an aggressive push to get back into the rotation. Turman faced only three batters over the minimum in his five innings and retired the side in order in the second, fourth and fifth innings. His only blemish was a one-out homer by Darren Bush in the top of the first.

"He's done a good job out of the bullpen for us," Harris added. "He's made a strong case to let us know that he can be a starter for us."

It took the JetHawks (19-28, 42-75) three innings to respond to Bush's long ball. But when they did, the Quakes (23-24, 65-52) and starter Aaron Kramer (9-8) were the ones feeling the aftershock.

Back-to-back homers by Harvey Hargrove (two-run shot) and Patrick Williams in the bottom of the third staked Lancaster to a 4-1 lead.

Hargrove's homer, which cleared the video screen in left field, extended his hitting streak to six games, while Williams' blast, his 16th, was the fourth consecutive game the right-hander had homered.

After Lancaster padded its lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, Cirilo Cruz joined the homer club, crushing a solo shot to right-center in the fifth, giving the JetHawks a 7-1 lead.

"Sometimes all it takes is for one guy to start us rolling," Williams said. "Harvey was the one that started it off this time for us and we kept it up."

An inning later, after Lancaster already had scored three runs, third baseman Jason Regan blasted a Jeremy Fikac fastball for a two-run homer and his 13th of the year.

Regan, however, wasn't done. The Belton, Texas, resident completed Lancaster's scoring in the bottom of the eighth, hammering left-hander Keith Volkman's first pitch over the right-center wall.

Trailing 13-2, Rancho Cucamonga lit up JetHawks reliever Juan Ramos for five runs on three hits and an error before the righthander got Bush to foul out to catcher Greg Connors to end the game.

Uploaded August 13, 1999