Caleb Bryson hit his fourth home run of the season on Tuesday night.
James Toy III/ Sonoma Stompers
Geoff Safford, Media Relations Assistant
The Sonoma Stompers (7-6) went down quickly and quietly in a 4-1 loss to the San Rafael Pacifics (6-7) on Tuesday night at People’s Home Equity Ballpark at Arnold Field. The game only took two hours and five minutes to complete and featured a sensational pitching performance from Celson Polanco for San Rafael.
The Pacifics did not hit the cover off the ball in this game either, but got the big hits they needed to do enough for the victory. Polanco got credit for the win and improved to 1-2 while Gregory Paulino (1-1) got the loss. J.R. Bunda also got credit for a save for the Pacifics, his third of the year.
The Dominican Republic native Polanco was fantastic and put together a performance that even the opposition had to respect. “Polanco did a great job of pitching at his tempo, pace, and location to keep our lineup off balanced,” said Stompers bench coach Chris Mathews. “When someone is able to put a performance together like that, sometimes you just have to tip your cap and not try to dwell on it.”
Polanco went eight strong innings allowing six hits and two walks while striking out nine. Polonco did a great job of not allowing the Stompers to bunch hits together as Sonoma didn’t get a runner past second base till the eighth. The lone run of the game for Sonoma came on a Caleb Bryson solo blast to left in the bottom of the eighth. The Georgia native finished 2 for 3 with Sonoma's lone run driven in on the evening.
Gregory Paulino was effective at times but made a few costly mistakes to Pacifics batters. Paulino went 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out four.
Maikel Jova did most of the damage for San Rafael and jumped on Paulino from the start. Jova had a two run single in the first inning to give the Pacifics a 2-0 lead. He also had a solo home run off Paulino in the seventh inning and finished the game 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Jova is a veteran of the Pacific Association, and made Paulino pay for the mistakes he made. The other run for the Pacifics came on a solo homer by Brent Gillespie in the second inning.
Sonoma will look to bounce back in game two of their three game series with San Rafael with veteran right-hander Mike Jackson Jr. on the bump for Sonoma on Wednesday. Jackson Jr. has been effective so far this season, and has won both games he has started. He will look to recapture the magic he had in a 12-strikeout performance against the Diamonds on June 3.
It will be a special night at the yard on Wednesday with Giants legend J.T. Snow making an appearance at People’s Home Equity Ballpark at Arnold Field. Tickets are still available on stompersbaseball.com. Snow will throw out the first pitch at the game and will be available to mingle with fans and sign autographs before and during the game. You can also purchase Stompers tickets and fan merchandise at The Fan Shop located at 234 West Napa Street. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the team at info@stompersbaseball.com.