Errors cost Nuts again as Visalia completes three-game sweep

The differences between the Low-A and High-A levels are subtle.

At the advanced level, pitchers are a little more savvy, hitters slightly more powerful, fielders a slight bit craftier. But add all that together and it can produce a significant advantage.

For lack of a better theory, that might be why the Modesto Nuts are off to a slow start this season, dropping to 5-9 after Visalia completed a three-game sweep with an 11-8 victory Wednesday afternoon at John Thurman Field.

The Nuts, despite a makeup that includes 17 players who won a championship at the Low-A level last year, are being asked to grow up against teams, such as the Rawhide, that possess much more California League experience.

Modesto has four players who finished last season in High-A, while Visalia returns 10 from a team that reached the California League playoffs in 2014.

No one’s making excuses – least of all the Nuts’ players and coaches. But if these players wearing Modesto uniforms were good enough to dominate in the California League at the starter’s gun, it’s likely Colorado would have sent them to Double-A to attack that level’s learning curve.

“You have to go out and get it done whether you’ve played in this league before or not,” said Nuts manager Fred Ocasio. “If you’re in this league, it’s because somebody thinks you’re good enough to play here.”

Michael Benjamin Jr., who had a double and a triple, is seeing those slight differences in play, but also sees off-field adjustments being made on the fly.

“So far, all I can say is that we’re seeing a lot more off-speed pitches,” Benjamin said. “But more than that, there’s a comfort level with coming back to the same place (Visalia) played last year – the same things off the field, the same environment.

“They know more about this league than a lot of the guys on our team, just in general, and that can help the comfort level. Once we get comfortable and in the swing of things, the natural ability we all have will show more often on the field.”

One early concern for the Nuts is on defense. They committed five errors on the seven-game trip that opened the season, but Wednesday was their second four-error game in a seven-game homestand that saw them commit 13 errors.

“There are no excuses for that,” Benjamin said. “Errors happen, and we have to minimize them, especially since they all seem to be coming at really bad times right now. That’s baseball, and those are things we have to clean up. We have to lock in mentally and get the job done.”

For the first half of the rare midday start, it appeared both teams were trying to text and drive at the same time. It took more than two hours for the teams to slog through four innings, after which the score was tied 8-8.

Modesto struck for four runs in the bottom of the fourth to forge the tie, but even then it wasn’t the sharp brand of game Ocasio wants. The Nuts scored three in the first, then handed the Rawhide four in the second on four walks, two hits and an error.

“We go and score three runs and we turn around and give them four,” Ocasio said. “We can’t put it together right now. When we hit, we don’t pitch. When we pitch, we don’t play defense. We were solid defensively on that first road trip, and for whatever reason the focus seems to have gone away.”

Wildness and lack of defensive support chased Modesto starter Johendi Jiminian after three innings. The right-hander walked four and gave up five hits, but three of the six runs he allowed were unearned.

Another two unearned runs were charged to reliever Trent Daniel, who ended up taking the loss because the Nuts produced only two hits and no runs after the four-run fourth.

Modesto finished with 11 hits, with three apiece from Raimel Tapia and Wilfredo Rodriguez to go with Benjamin’s two extra-base hits. Daniel Palka had two doubles and a single to pace the Rawhide’s 15-hit attack.

After going 2-5 in the opening homestand, Modesto hits the road with two series in the South Division’s twin launching pads – four games in Lancaster followed by three in High Desert.

That’s a trip nearly guaranteed to get the Nuts’ bats going, and perhaps that will help springboard their efforts to put together complete games.

“It’s the first 14 games of 140, but we’re better than this,” Benjamin said. “We know it for sure. We are somewhat of a young team.

“It’s still baseball, even though we’re playing a level up. If there are adjustments to be made, we’ll make them. We have to clean up a few things and then we’ll be ready to go.”

This story was originally published April 22, 2015 at 8:35 PM with the headline "Errors cost Nuts again as Visalia completes three-game sweep."