Gold Sox beat division champion Lodi

Their hopes for a Horizon Air Summer Series title were shot to the ground on Thursday, but the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox didn't waste time dwelling on the past.

The Gold Sox scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning and never trailed the rest of the game in their 5-3 victory over the Engelken Division-champion Lodi Baseball Club on Friday night at All Seasons RV Stadium.

Things looked shaky in the first after Gold Sox starter Trent Evins surrendered a two-run homer to put his team in the hole early, but the right-hander sat down 12 consecutive batters and wound up tossing seven quality innings.

Evins struck out six batters and didn't walk anybody to pick up his fifth win of the season.

He left his fastball up in the first inning and said he felt a little rusty, but was able to establish his go-to sinker and induced nine groundouts, including two double-play balls.

Although a McCullough Division title is out of the team's grasp, Evins said he and his teammates are still energized to finish the season strong.

"No matter if we win or lose we're still going to come out here and play our hardest," Evins said. "We want to play as hard as we can for these fans."

After committing four errors that were instrumental in the team's 7-3 loss to the Humboldt Crabs on Thursday, the Gold Sox played mistake-free ball on Friday.

First baseman Mike Wiseman, a catcher by trade, snagged a line drive out of the air to rob Drew Oldfield of a base hit in the second inning, but did even more with his bat.

The Wayne State senior went 2-for-4 and knocked in two of Yuba-Sutter's runs.

After seeing 10 pitches in his first at-bat in which he struck out, Wiseman said he was able to read Lodi starter Justin Cooper, resulting in a productive night at the plate.

"I knew what the pitcher had and saw the ball real well," Wiseman said. "We made (Cooper) throw a lot of pitches and it's good to do that early."

The majority of the damage Yuba-Sutter imposed was in the bottom of the second as nine Gold Sox batted in the inning.

Wiseman's bases-loaded single knocked in Andy Quiring from third, followed by a two-RBI single from Max Stassi down the left field line.

After Mikey Raudenbush doubled in the fourth inning, Wiseman put the Gold Sox ahead 5-2 with his second single of the night.

Yuba-Sutter closer Jeff Fisher-Gasper notched his team-leading sixth save with a perfect top of the ninth.

"We knew if we could hold (Lodi) to a couple runs early that we could come back," Wiseman said. "You can't win if you don't score anyway, so why not make it interesting?"

Manager Jack Johnson felt Friday's win was one of the best outputs by his ballclub all season.

He wasn't at all dejected by his team not winning the division title, but still has challenged his team to reach the 30-win plateau.

The Gold Sox sit at 27-13, with six games remaining this summer.

"Win or loss if they play good defense, pitch well and are aggressive at the plate, then let the wins and losses come as they may," Johnson said. "(Lodi) is one of the better teams in Northern California and hats off to our guys for battling back."

At one point of the season Lodi was 21-1, but have lost six of their last eight games going into tonight's contest.

Andy Hebrard (2-0, 0.63 ERA) has gone at least eight innings in his last two starts and gets the start tonight against Lodi.

Johnson said Yuba City High lefty Jake Stassi won't join the team until Sunday night's series finale.

"They need go back out there tonight and play solid defense, throw strikes and play against the game," Johnson said.

• GOLD SOX NOTES: Former Sox make history

Former Gold Sox players Dallas Braden and Tommy Everidge became the first pair of Yuba-Sutter teammates to play together in the major leagues.

Braden pitched 62⁄3 innings to pick up the win and Everidge knocked in a run to lead the Oakland A's to 8-5 win on Friday over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Everidge and Braden both played for the Gold Sox during the 2003 season.

Braden extends streak

Gold Sox second baseman Deven Braden improved his team-leading hitting streak to 15 games on Friday with a single in the third inning.

Braden needs to hit safely in one more game to tie Max Stassi's season-high 16-game streak set earlier this summer.