Marcus Bradley went 2 for 2 with three walks in Wednesday’s 8-7 loss to the San Rafael Pacifics at Albert Park. (James W. Toy III / Sonoma Stompers)
SAN RAFAEL, Calif.– The Sonoma Stompers Professional Baseball Club, presented by Virginia Dare Winery, fell 8-7 to the San Rafael Pacifics on Wednesday night, snapping a nine-game overall win streak and 7-0 run to start the second half.
The Stompers fall to 35-12 on the season but still sit at the top of the league 11 games ahead of the next-best Pittsburg Diamonds overall, while the Pacifics improve to .500 in the second half.
Stompers starter Taylor Thurber has been dominant this season, coming into the game 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA. He delivered again on the mound through four innings before the Pacifics shook five combined runs out of him in the fifth and sixth.
“Thurber competes every time he’s up there. Tonight probably wasn’t his best stuff, but he still competed all the way until he got pulled out,” said right fielder Marcus Bradley.
Coming into Wednesday, Thurber had not allowed more than two runs in an outing this season.
Neither team’s offense struggled to gain momentum throughout the night. For the Stompers, veteran Yuki Yasuda knocked his third extra base hit in three days and went 3 for 4 on the night. Yasuda hit two home runs in the two games leading up to Wednesday, when he sent two balls to the warning track in deep left.
Bradley walked three times and scored two of the Stomper runs while contributing two hits on the night. Bradley and the Pacifics’ Demetrius Moorer have drawn 44 walks apiece this season, 11 more than the next-best player in the league.
“I was just trying to get on base. I was the two-hole hitter, so that’s my job, to let the big bats do their jobs,” Bradley said.
With the game tied in the seventh inning, Daniel Baptista roped a double to center to bring in Yasuda and give the Stompers back their lead. But it wouldn’t last long, as the Pacifics’ roared back with two runs in the eighth to make the score 8-3 San Rafael.
The Stompers face the Pacifics in a series-deciding matchup on Thursday at Albert Park at 7:05.
STOMPERS TICKETS
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For more information, please contact the front office at 707-938-7277, or email info@stompersbaseball.com.