Feisty Nuts get past Mavericks

There were definite signs of life in the Modesto offense in Sunday afternoon's 8-5 victory over High Desert, but more important was the display of spirit shown by the struggling Nuts.

In the sixth inning with Modesto leading 7-4, Mavericks pitcher Alfredo Venegas threw behind Travis Becktel, who had homered off Venegas in the fourth inning.

The pitch came nowhere near Becktel, hitting off the backstop on the fly, and appeared as though it may have slipped out of the hand of Venegas, but that didn't seem to matter when Daniel Mayora came to bat later in the inning.

Before a pitch was thrown, Mayora said something to Venegas, who responded by stepping off the mound and pointing at Mayora.

"He threw behind Becktel, and all I said was 'C'mon, pitch, why don't you just play baseball?'" Mayora said.

Coaches streamed out of the coaching boxes and dugouts to stop the chatter before it escalated further, but the messages had been delivered by both sides.

There was no bloodshed, no further hints at throwing inside, and no warnings were issued to either dugout.

"The pitch was a little suspicious," said Nuts manager Jerry Weinstein. "It's always good to see a teammate back up another teammate."

That's especially true for the Nuts, who opened an eight-game homestand with the memory of a four-game drubbing at the hands of the San Jose Giants fresh in their minds.

Modesto was outscored 18-4 in the series to drop a season-worst 11½ games behind the Giants in the California League's North Division.

After the verbal jousting, Mayora lined his third hit of the game. Matt Repec also homered for the Nuts, who scored more than four runs in a game for the first time since May 22.

Chaz Roe (2-1) was the beneficiary of the offense. He was not as sharp as in his last outing, and allowed four runs on eight hits over six innings.

He was staked to an early 4-1 lead. Modesto got a run in the first when Anthony Jackson was hit by a pitch, went to third on Mayora's single and scored on Mike Paulk's ground ball.

The Mavericks tied it in the second when Gregory Halman clanged a Roe fastball off the scoreboard for his league-leading 16th home run. The Nuts got two in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double by Jay Cox and Johnny Bowden's two-out single to right.

Modesto added an unearned run in the third on an infield error, two walks and Nick Haley's sacrifice fly, but High Desert got to Roe for three runs on four consecutive hits in the fourth to tie the game 4-4.

The tie didn't last the inning. With one out, Bowden walked, and Becktel homered down the line in left. Singles by Jackson and Mayora followed, with Jackson scoring on Paulk's sacrifice fly for a 7-4 lead.

If the Nuts can expect to get healthy against anyone, any of the five teams from the South Division could fill the Great Healer role. High Desert fills the bill, as Modesto is 12-2 this season against teams from the South, and a woeful 14-29 against the North.

In fact, every team in the North has a winning record in interdivisional games, holding a combined 61-32 record against the South.

"You're evaluated in baseball on your total body of work," Weinstein said. "For all intents and purposes it's two separate leagues this year."