Power @ Snowbirds
Jeremy Gonzales tossed five shutout innings, allowing just one hit while facing the minimum 15 batters, as the Power rolled past the Snowbirds, 10-0, in the first game of a California Winter League double-header at Palm Springs Stadium.
Yusuke Inoguchi led the way on offense, going three for four at the plate and driving in three runs.
Inoguchi put the Power on the board in the top of the first with an RBI groundout and the Power never looked back, adding two more runs in the top of the second on a Patrick Howe sacrifice fly that scored Trevor Whyte, followed by a Hiroshi Senda RBI single to make it 3-0 Power.
The Japanese centerfielder struck again for the Power in the top of the fifth, with an RBI double to drive in his second run of the game and push the lead to 4-0 Power. The double by Inoguchi was the only extra base hit of the ball game as the Power strung together 12 hits in total.
The Power turned it into a laugher in the sixth, plating six runs on three hits, three walks and a hit batsman to jump out to a 10-0 lead. Jeremy Miller and Adrian Martinez both had two-run singles in the inning.
The Power improved to 9-2 while the Snowbirds had their three game winning streak snapped and fell to 5-6.
Bluesox @ Chill
The afternoon match-up featured the Bluesox defeating the Chill, 7-3, on the back of a strong five innings of work by Jacob Vulk, who allowed one run on six hits to earn his second win of the season at Palm Springs Stadium.
The Bluesox jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first when Blake Babnick drove in Dillon Tindall, who singled, to make it 1-0 Bluesox. Randy Wells drove in both Scott Stidham and Babnick to make it 3-0. Randy Wells led the day for the Bluesox from the batter’s box going three for three with two RBIs.
Two more runs came across the plate for the Bluesox against Vinny St. John and the Chill in the bottom of the second. Graham Sullivan led off the inning with a double, and after a Mathew Grosso single put runners on first and third, Brett Fick brought home Sullivan with an RBI groundout and it was 4-0 Bluesox. DJ Jackson picked up his first RBI of the season one batter later with a single that scored Grosso and put the Bluesox up 5-0.
The Bluesox scored their final two runs of the game in the bottom of the fourth on a Grosso RBI triple and a sacrifice fly by Brett Fick. The two runs increased the Bluesox lead to 7-0 over the Chill.
The Chill attempted to mount a comeback with a run against Vulk in the top of the fifth when Dan Treccia drove in Jake Taylor to make it a 7-1 Bluesox lead.
Brandon Brown came in on relief of Vulk in the sixth inning and Stephen Kaupang knocked in Clint Harkins with an RBI double to make it a 7-2 ball game. After Kaupang moved to third, Relly Mercurio earned an RBI with a groundout against Brown to cut the lead to 7-3 Bluesox.
That was as close as the Chill came as the Bluesox improved to 4-7-1 with the 7-3 win and the Chill fell to 7-4.
