Modesto Nuts’ good start fades to 6-2 loss to Bakersfield

Fans filing into Thurman Field on Tuesday night may have noticed the menacing black smoke from the not-far-away Modesto Auto Wreckers fire.

Crews doused it in barely 35 minutes and, looking back, the Modesto Nuts would have paid them a month’s rent to continue their work on the Bakersfield Blaze. Unfortunately for the Nuts, Bakersfield scorched them for 13 hits and a 6-2 win.

Modesto leadoff hitter Wes Rogers opened the Nuts’ attack with a triple and quickly scored on Forrest Wall’s groundout. Rogers and Wall are ranked among the California League’s top five hitters, and Wall’s RBI was his league-leading 14th.

Problem was, Bakersfield right-hander Tyler Herb (1-0) sent Modesto batters muttering back to the dugout for much of his remaining 5  2/3 innings. Herb featured a curve, a sharp-breaking nasty thing resulting in 10 strikeouts, the kind of pitch not befitting a 29th-round draft pick. More important, six Ks came in succession over the middle innings while Bakersfield erased Modesto’s early lead.

“The best way to hit the curve is to hit the fastball,” said Rogers, who underscored his strategy by drilling a Herb fastball to right-center for his triple. “He had a good curve, but the way to hit it is to be on time. It’s more about being on time, trying to see it and compete in the batter’s box.”

Modesto starter Jesus Tinoco (0-1), obtained by Colorado in the trade last year that sent Troy Tulowitzki to Toronto, showed promise early. His pitches drifted high in the strike zone later, however, and Bakersfield hit him especially hard the third time through the order.

Drew Jackson, one of the Seattle Mariners’ top prospects, rifled one about 400 feet off the wall in center to tie the score in the third. Six of the last seven hitters against Tinoco strafed him for hits during a three-run fifth that ended his night.

So ended the Nuts’ two-game winning streak, both achieved by walkoff, counterpoints to Tuesday night’s more tame affair watched by 2,053. If it’s any consolation to the Nuts, Herb has struck out 19 in two starts this month.

“(Herb) threw it well, and he threw it for strikes. And when he got ahead in the count, he knew where to throw it,” Wall said. “But it wasn’t something we haven’t seen before.”

The Nuts (5-7) closed to 5-2 in the sixth on Roberto Ramos’ slicing double into the left-field corner that brought in Max White. Bakersfield manager Eddie Menchaca opted for reliever Aaron Brooks, who struck out Emerson Jimenez with the bases loaded.

Blaze closer Ryan Horstman erased any further drama by retiring the final six Nuts, three via strikeouts.

One Modesto plus was catcher Robbie Perkins, from Canberra, Australia, who threw out three runners at second in his Nuts debut.

Wednesday night’s rubber game of the series ends Modesto’s season-opening 13-game stretch against Bakersfield (4-8) and Stockton (6-6).

“We’re familiar with them, and they’re familiar with us,” Wall said. “Looking forward to seeing some new guys.”

Notes – The Nuts begin a seven-game trip with the first of four Thursday night at San Jose. After a bye Monday, Modesto travels to Visalia for a three-game series. ... The rained-out game at Stockton on April 9 has been scheduled as part of a doubleheader, two seven-inning games, in Stockton on June 13 at 6 p.m. ... The Nuts’ winning run Monday night to beat Bakersfield 2-1 in 15 innings was plated by a wild pitch. The play originally was scored a passed ball. ... Anthony Sanders, Modesto’s new developmental supervisor, arrived Tuesday. Sanders, 42, served as manager of Colorado’s rookie-level affiliate at Grand Junction the last three seasons. He played briefly for Toronto in 1999 and Seattle in 2000 and ’01, and he also helped Team USA’s march to a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Sanders succeeds former Nuts manager Jerry Weinstein.

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 12:12 AM with the headline "Modesto Nuts’ good start fades to 6-2 loss to Bakersfield."