Modesto Nuts miss chance to sweep Bakersfield

The Modesto Nuts built a quick lead in Sunday night’s California League game against the Bakersfield Blaze. The Nuts later came back from two deficits.

But down to their final inning, they were retired 1-2-3 in a 6-5 loss that snapped a three-game winning streak and prevented Modesto from sweeping the three-game series at John Thurman Field.

The Nuts begin a three-game series at North Division leader Visalia on Monday. The Rawhide (30-19 second half) lost to Stockton 7-5 on Sunday and leads Modesto and San Jose by one game. San Jose defeated Lancaster 7-5. The Nuts lead Stockton by two games and San Jose by three in the wild-card race with 21 games remaining.

Modesto took a 2-1 lead on Michael Benjamin’s RBI double and Rosell Herrera’s run-scoring groundout in the bottom of the first inning but fell behind 4-2 as Bakersfield scored a run in each of the first four innings off Nuts starter Johendi Jiminian, including a solo home run by Chantz Mack in the third.

The Nuts tied the score in the fourth. Ashley Graeter singled, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Drew Weeks. Correlle Prime doubled home Weeks.

Trailing 5-4, Modesto tied the score in the eighth after loading the bases on three singles. Prime hit a sacrifice fly to plate Herrera.

Bakersfield’s Nelson Ward was hit by a pitch leading off the ninth, but the Nuts felt the pain when, following a double steal, Mack drove in Ward with a sacrifice fly.

This story was originally published August 16, 2015 at 10:31 PM with the headline "Modesto Nuts miss chance to sweep Bakersfield."