Sonoma Stompers split home series with Pittsburg Diamonds

It’s been a week of big guns, big runs and split decisions for the Sonoma Stompers on their home turf, at People’s Home Equity Ballpark at Arnold Field.|

It’s been a week of big guns, big runs and split decisions for the Sonoma Stompers on their home turf, at People’s Home Equity Ballpark at Arnold Field.

On Tuesday, the bats seemingly made contact at will and a ten-hit game turned into a 13-1 rout of the Pittsburg Diamonds, highlighted by Joel Carranza’s 11th home run. The celebration ended on Wednesday, as star hurler Sean Conroy failed to salvage a close game when he came out of the bullpen in relief and the game ultimately came down to one swing of the bat. 

In the top of the seventh inning, Jordan Yallen approached the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. Conroy was on the mound, making his second appearance of the season out of the bullpen, having inherited a tough situation with Sonoma trailing 2-1.

With the count even at two and two, Yallen launched a grand slam down the left field line to blow the game open, giving the Diamonds a lead they wouldn’t relinquish as they handed Sonoma a 6-2 loss.

Coming into the game, Yallen was hitting only .141 on the year with a .411 OPS, and his only extra base hit had been a double. Yet in a crucial moment against a pitcher who had seen his share of success in the Pacific Association, Yallen took a hanging slider downtown with his biggest hit of the year, sinking Sonoma’s hopes of a two-game sweep in the process.

Pittsburg starter Dylan Brammer (7-3) did his job on the mound, allowing only one run on four hits while striking out seven in the seven innings pitched for the Diamonds. Brammer has pitched well against the Stompers, as he is 3-1 with a 3.06 ERA on the season in six starts. Gregory Paulino (3-4) took the loss for the Stompers, allowing 3 runs in 6-1/3 innings.

Wednesday night the Stomps had only four hits, as both Daniel Baptista and Mark Hurley finished 2-for-4 in the game. Hurley hit his fifth home run of the season, an opposite field shot that tied the game at 1-1. The Stompers had a few opportunities to put more runs on the board in the middle innings, but could not get the clutch hits they needed and stranded nine runners on base. The top of the order was a strength in Tuesday’s game, but the top three hitters in the order finished 0 for 12 with a walk in Wednesday’s game.

Overall, it was a quiet night for the Stompers compared to their offensive explosion on Tuesday, when they rolled to a 13-1 victory in the wake of a three-run first inning.

Starting pitcher Oliver Garcia lost in his previous two outings, both against the Pacifics, but had some of his best stuff on Tuesday night. Garcia retired 10 in a row in a stretch from the first to the fourth, and allowed only one earned run in five innings while striking out a season-high 10 batters.

Bench coach and catcher Chris Matthews stressed the importance of Garcia to the Stompers offensive success. “Garcia’s tempo and command on the mound tonight was sensational. He pitched quickly and got us back in the dugout fast,” Matthews said. “That really helps the momentum of an offense when you can get back in the dugout quickly after a big inning.” 

The Stomper offense scored in bunches all night. The biggest inning came in the seventh when the Stompers exploded for six runs to put the game out of reach. The top of the lineup was sensational as Matt Hibbert, Derrick Fox, and Carranza all finished with two hits each. They went a combined 6 for 12 with five runs scored and six driven in, with three coming on a homer by Carranza in the first inning, his team best 11th of the season.

Mark Hurley had been struggling at the plate recently but found his swing again hitting in the ninth spot, going 2-for-4 with three runs driven in. Sonoma had 10 hits as a team on top of eight walks and also took advantage of four Diamonds errors on their way to an easy victory.

The Stompers (30-26, 7-10 second half) now will head to Pittsburg (26-30, 7-10 second half) for the last time this season for a four-game series at City Park Field. Mike Jackson Jr. will get the ball in the first game of the series and can with his fourth game in a row. Jackson Jr. is 3-0 with a 1.56 ERA in his last three outings for Sonoma. Thursday’s game will be quite the spectacle with former Major League star Jose Conseco, who had a brief celebrity run with the Stompers last season, making his Diamonds season debut (results not available at press time).

Tickets for upcoming Stompers home games are available on StompersBaseball.com. Fan gear, and tickets are also available for purchase inside The Fan Shop located at 234 West Napa Street in downtown Sonoma. For more information about the team, contact the Stompers at info@stompersbaseball.com. 

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