Gold Sox run streak to six straight
Sunday, July 17, 2005 - The Nor-Cal Longhorns starter was the perfect medicine to cure hitting woes at the bottom of the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox lineup.
The Gold Sox' six through nine hitters combined for four runs and were 8-for-16 at the plate Saturday in a 8-1 rout of the Longhorns (9-10, 9-8) in the second of a three-game Horizon Air Summer Series set.
The Gold Sox (25-9, 22-6) are riding a six-game winning streak and are on the verge of sweeping their third three-game series of the season.
The Gold Sox had 11 hits, including five doubles, by the third inning and led 8-0. Chris Herrera took the loss in a difficult two innings where he allowed 10 hits, eight runs - all earned - while fanning three and walking one.
“He's what we like to call a guy that pitches slow, slower and slowest,” said Gold Sox center fielder Billy Krause, who broke an 0-for-10 slide with two hits and an RBI. “He's just not going to blow anything by you.”
The Gold Sox managed just three more hits after the third inning with relievers Nick San Fillippo and Robert Mueller quieting their bats.
Jonny Norfolk, Billy Sinacori, Greg Thomas and Krause - the Gold Sox' six through nine hitters - all entered the game hitting below .200 but raised their averages considerably after solid hitting performances. Jesse Rodgers and A.J. Valentine were the only Gold Sox starters that did not record a hit.
Thomas, who has struggled with a wood bat since joining the club last week, hit a double in the second that bounced high off the wall in left and drove home a run with a single in the Gold Sox' four-run third inning. Sinacori hit an RBI-double down the line in left in the third and later dropped a single into center. Norfolk, who was just 2-for-his-last-25 entering the game, singled to center in his first two at-bats.
“Those guys were scuffling a bit,” Peek said about the bottom of his order. “Norfolk had a break out night. Not only did he have two hits, but he hit four ball hard. Krause also had some hard hit balls, and Thomas is getting used to swinging a wood bat. He hit that ball off the wall and didn't even put his body into it. It was more like an all arm type of swing.”
Tyler Pearson picked up his team-leading sixth win of the season in five-innings of three-hit ball, striking out seven and walking just one. He faced just one over the minimum.
“I feel very confident when he is on the mound,” Peek said. “He's a guy that is not going to get himself into that much trouble. He's going to keep the ball in the zone, attack guys and give us a good chance to win.”
Steve Alverson came on in relief and struggled a bit in the sixth, allowing three hits and the Longhorns' only run but settled in the seventh and eighth. Wes Porter came on in the ninth, allowing a lead-off single before getting three straight outs.
Rodgers may have went hitless but did manage an RBI in the big fourth inning, knocking home Thomas with a sacrafice fly to left. Sinacori's double scored Cole Koester, and Thomas' infield single allowed Norfolk to come home. Sinacori scored on a passed ball.
Krause fisted a ball back up the middle to plate Thomas in the second.
Jason Searle's only hit of the game was a powerful two-out double off the wall in left-center in the first. He later scored the Gold Sox first run on Doug Thennis' double. Thennis came home on a double steal with Koester at first. Koester later scored on Norfolk's grounder to center, completing the three-run two-out rally.
