Clutch hits elude Gold Sox

Baseball is a game built on statistics, yet out of all the stats that are not kept, one — clutch hitting — may be the most important niche a winning ballclub can have.

For evidence look no further than Saturday night's game at All Seasons RV Stadium.

Although the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox reached base all evening long, it was the fact that they stranded 15 runners on base which led to the host team dropping a Horizon Air Summer Series game to the San Jose Seals 6-3.

"We had the bases loaded three times and gave up two-out hits in all three innings they scored," said Yuba-Sutter manager Jack Johnson. "The bottom line is we have to come out and play with pride and find a way to win the ballgame."

Making the loss even tougher to swallow was the fact that the Gold Sox knocked out San Jose's starting pitcher in the very first inning.

Mikey Raudenbush opened the contest with a sharp single before control issues by San Jose starter Joe Church allowed the Gold Sox to scrape together a pair of runs without swinging the bat.

Church threw 16 consecutive balls in the inning to give Yuba-Sutter a 2-0 lead and was lifted from the game after walking in both runs and facing just six batters.

But Mike Gleason came on for Church with the bases loaded and got Justin Lamb to hit into a double play on his very first pitch to keep the damage to a minimum.

The Seals struck back quickly in the second when Tommy Cardiel and Adam Greenberg slapped singles and came in to score on a double by Ben Farrel to give San Jose a 3-2 lead it would not relinquish.

The Seals took a 5-2 lead into the fifth after Gleason walked three batters to load the bases with two outs. Kyle Mossbrucker came on with the bags full and Lamb fouled off two tough pitches with two strikes before eventually working a walk to score Max Stassi.

The Gold Sox looked to take the lead in the sixth when Christian Garcia singled, Raudenbush was hit by a pitch and Dan Black laid down a bunt single to load the bases for Stassi with no outs.

But Stassi hit into a fielder's choice and Michael Wiseman grounded into a 4-6-3 double play and the Gold Sox came away with no runs in the inning.

Yuba-Sutter would leave nine runners on base over the final four innings, making it a frustrating night in the batters' box.

"Nobody stepped up offensively," Johnson said. "When you leave that many runners on it means you're not getting it done at the plate. We need to put the individual stuff aside and start playing for the name on the front of the jersey."

Gold Sox starter Cris Rogers, who entered the game with a perfect 6-0 record and a 2.52 ERA, was touched for five runs over five innings to suffer the loss.

NOTES: With Oakland A's scouts in attendance, Max Stassi started behind the plate for the first time this summer and easily gunned down the lone Seal who attempted to steal second. Yuba-Sutter entered the game with 59 errors and committed two more on Saturday. ... The Gold Sox have committed three or more errors in a game 13 times this summer. ... Second baseman Aaron Crooks broke out of an 0-for-22 stretch with a single up the middle to open the second inning. ... Andy Hebrard (1-0) is scheduled to start tonight.