Nuts eliminated from title race

Modesto beats Lancaster, but Stockton can't hold on

By Brian VanderBeek
bvanderbeek@modbee.com

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Alexander Pope died 125 years before the birth of professional baseball, so he obviously wasn't referring to the sport when he wrote that "hope springs eternal." Hope's eternity for the Modesto Nuts on Saturday was about 15 minutes after their 7-3 victory over Lancaster on Saturday night.

When they walked off the diamond, the scoreboard at John Thurman Field flashed the news that Stockton was leading San Jose 5-3 in the ninth inning.

Had that score held up, the Nuts would have taken a shot at tying for the first-half title in the California League's North Division into this afternoon's final game of the half. But as the Modesto players showered, two Ports errors in Stockton led to three unearned San Jose runs after two outs in the top of the ninth, allowing the Giants to win 6-5 and claim their fifth straight first-half title.

"It's been disappointing at the end because we had a good run," said Joey Williamson, who threw a strong 4º innings in a spot starting role. "We had our chances. But I think we've positioned ourselves very well for the second half. All we can do it keep playing well and do the little things to help us win."

Yes, as much as the Nuts wanted to win the first half and earn a first-round bye in September, staying in the race for this long gives them a huge advantage in the second-half race.

Modesto and Visalia will open the second half on Thursday with no worse than a five-game lead over Bakersfield for the right to meet each other in the best-of-three first round.

But those games will be played 71 games from this morning, and Saturday's win -- despite the outcome in Stockton -- was huge for a Modesto team that has struggled in the last two weeks.

Williamson was taking the start in place of Christian Friedrich, who is nursing a sore elbow. The JetHawks, who never trailed in taking the first two games of this series, grabbed a run in the third on two doubles and two more in the fourth on Brandon Burnes' two-run homer to left.

The Nuts got all three back in the bottom of the fourth against Lancaster starter Chad Wagler on three straight doubles by Charlie Blackmon, rehabbing major leaguer Jeff Baker and Jay Cox, followed by two ground balls.

Modesto's first lead in the series came in the seventh when Radames Nazario doubled and scored on Blackmon's two-out single, then the Nuts wrapped it up with three runs in the eighth.

With two outs and no one aboard, Maikol Gonzalez singled and scored on Jeff Cunningham's double to right-center. Nazario followed with an RBI single and Wilin Rosario completed the three-run inning with a triple off the center field wall.

That was more than enough for the Nuts bullpen, which was perfect in relief of Williamson.

Edgmer Escalona, who took over from Williamson with two outs in the fifth, retired all seven batters he faced, then Matt Reynolds breezed through the eighth and Carlos Luna had a perfect ninth to send most in the crowd of 3,183 home happy.

For Williamson and his late-inning comrades, it was a very nice night.

"We look out for each other and it's good we've been able to stay consistent all year," Williamson said. "We hope to be able to do that in the second half. It's a good night when the bullpen can get together for a win.

"We're going to be a playoff team, so it's just a matter of putting it together when we get there."

Bee staff writer Brian VanderBeek can be reached at bvanderbeek@modbee.com or 578-2300.