Yuki Yasuda reached base in all four of his plate appearances in Sonoma's 7-6 loss to the Admirals Wednesday. Yasuda was 1 for 1 with 2 walks and an RBI
James Toy III/Sonoma Stompers
Geoff Safford, Media Relations Assistant
Darian Sandford of the Admirals is always a player that the opposing team wants to keep off the base paths. His speed is unmatched by any player in the Pacific Association. He has more steals (74) than two of the four teams in the league by himself. The Stompers were unable to do that Wednesday. Sandford reached base five times and fueled the Admirals to a 7-6 win over the Stompers at Wilson Park.
Sanford accounted for six of the seven runs the Admirals scored Wednesday finishing 4 of 4 with three driven in and three runs scored. Sandford also broke the single game Pacific Association league record with five stolen bases on the night. One of those stolen bases was a steal of home.
The largest inning of the game for the Admirals was the second as the Admirals put four runs on the board to jump out to an early lead. Two singles with two outs by Sandford, and Pedro Perez brought the four runs home off Taylor Thurber. Thurber did not have his best stuff tonight for Sonoma allowing nine hits and a season high five runs in only four innings of work. The second inning has been key for the Admirals in the series as they have outscored the Stompers 9-0 in that inning over the first two games.
Despite being down early, the Stompers offense was able to battle back in innings four through six scoring six runs in those frames. Sonoma had the lead briefly 6-5 in the top of the sixth when Daniel Baptista singled home Matt Hibbert. Baptista was the only Stomper hitter with multiple hits finishing 2 for 4 with an RBI. Yuki Yasuda also reached base in all four of his plate appearances finishing 1 for 1 with 2 walks and an RBI.
For the first time this season the Admirals(29-39, 14-15 second half) have won a series against the Stompers (39-29, 16-13 second half) and have a chance to sweep the Stompers Thursday night in the series finale. Sonoma will look to end their final trip to Vallejo on a high note and will send Juan Espinosa to the hill (3-3 3.24 ERA). It will not be an easy task for the Stompers as the tough right-hander Marquis Hutchinson (5-3 2.78 ERA) is scheduled to get the start Thursday. It will be a important game for the Sonoma to win as a huge series against San Rafael over the weekend looms next.
Tickets for upcoming Stompers home games are available on StompersBaseball.com. Fan merchandise, and tickets are also available inside The Fan Shop located at 234 West Napa Street in downtown Sonoma. For more information about the team contact the Stompers front office at info@stompersbaseball.com