Joel Carranza hit his 10th home run of the season in a 3-2 loss to the Pacifics. He has reached double digits in homers in three straight seasons with the Stompers.
James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers
Geoff Safford, Media Relations Assistant
There was very little separating the Pacifics and Stompers Saturday night at Albert Park. They had very similar hit totals, and both starting pitchers had solid outings. The only thing that separated these two teams was a few feet.
Mason Morioka launched a towering fly ball down the left field line with the Stompers trailing by two. The ball went over Johnny Bekakis’ head to the wall and was initially called a home run by the home plate umpire. However, the umpires came together and ultimately decided it was not a home run and Morioka settled for an RBI triple. Carranza scored from first to make it a one run ball game but that would be the last run Sonoma would score in a 3-2 loss to the Pacifics. Joel Carranza brought in the second run on his ninth homerun of the season in the fourth and finished 2 for 4 in the game.
The two run fifth inning for the Pacifics was the difference in the game against Taylor Thurber. The Pacifics got three straight hits to beginning the inning to load the bases with nobody out. A sacrifice fly by Chase Tucker and an RBI groundout by Jake Taylor brought the runs home and gave the Pacifcs the runs they needed to sneak by the Stompers. Thurber picked up his second consecutive loss despite pitching well in both starts. Thurber went seven innings, allowing eight hits and three runs while striking out 4.
Celson Polanco has had the Stompers number this season and that trend continued Saturday evening. Polanco pitched six innings strong allowing two runs on seven hits while striking out seven. Polanco is now 4-0 in four starts against the Stompers with a 2.97 ERA, and only has one other win as a starter this season.
The bullpen was solid tonight behind Polanco in three scoreless innings. Julian Esquibel and J.R. Bunda allowed only one hit and two walks, with Bunda earning his 11th save of the season in a clean ninth inning.
The Stomper (29-24 6-8 second half) and Pacifics (30-23 9-5 second half) will play in the rubber match of the three game series with a lot on the line Sunday afternoon. The Stompers could also pick up its fourth win in six games this week against the Pacifics. A win would also bring the deficit in the second half standings back to only two games entering the final month of the season. Sonoma will not face the Pacifics again until August 9 at Peoples Home Equity Ballpark at Arnold Field.
Tickets for upcoming Stompers games are available at StompersBaseball.com. Tickets, and Fan Merchandise are also availible inside The Fan Shop located at 234 West Napa Street in downtown Sonoma. Contact the Stompers front office for more information at info@stompersbaseball.com.