Game 31 Recap: Hitting (on) the Road
Strong Blowers Start and Late Game Tremayne Save Ballers in 8-8 Knockout Win In Modesto
by Nick Clementi
The Oakland Ballers hit the road for a three-game set in Modesto, looking to get on track after a 2-4 homestand. On the bump was CJ Blowers for Oakland and Jonah Jenkins for the Roadsters.
The Ballers jumped on Jenkins early, scoring five runs in the third inning. After a Nick Leehey flyout, Davis Drewek singled, TJ McKenzie singled, Tremayne Cobb singled, Esai Santos doubled, Jake Allgeyer singled, and Jaden Collura doubled to break open the ballgame.
It has been a collective effort from Oakland’s bats this year, and Cobb gave his thoughts on the current state of the offense: “We’ve been having really good at bats and we have been able to feed off each other.”
Modesto would answer back in the bottom half, with a Harry Owen RBI double and Tyler Williams sac-fly. Blowers cruised the rest of the way for Oakland, not allowing another run in six innings of work. He finished with five strikeouts and allowed just two hits. This is back to back quality starts for Blowers, and his team-leading third quality start of the season.
“I felt great,” Blowers told Dispatches after the game, “I had a lot of pitches working tonight, with [Collura] calling such a great game, and me having a really good understanding of where my stuff was at early today. It really allowed me to just attack the zone with all five of my pitches.”
However, the road got bumpy for Oakland’s pitching in the 7th, as Valek Cisneros took over for Blowers. Cisneros walked two batters, allowed a triple, single, and another triple, giving the Roadsters the lead. Langston Burkett relieved Cisneros and struck out Kingston Liniak before Justin Boyd gave Modesto a 7-5 lead with an RBI single.
Aaron Moreno entered in the 8th for the Roadsters, but ran into trouble with two outs in the inning. A Jeter Ybarra double and Cam Bufford walk forced another move to the bullpen for Modesto’s manager JT Snow. The sidearmer Cooper Garrison entered the game, facing Leehey. On a 2-2 count, Garrison nabbed a sharply hit grounder headed toward the middle, ending Oakland’s chances of a comeback in the 8th.
In just his fourth appearance since returning to the Ballers, left-hander Dylan Delvecchio got the ball for the bottom half of the 8th. The St. Mary’s product struck out Logan Sutter and Harry Owen before serving up a solo home run to Max Handron.
Cooper Garrison went back out for the 9th, looking to close it for the Roadsters. The Ballers, however, would not go down without a fight.
Drewek led off the inning with a double, and McKenzie singled to advance Drewek to third. Cobb grounded out to first, putting the B’s within two runs. Santos walked and McKenzie stole third, giving the Ballers runners on the corners. Allgeyer would strike out, but Santos stole second base to put runners on second and third. Down to their last out, Collura stepped to the dish. First pitch swinging, Collura laced a pitch up the middle that Garrison would get a glove on to keep it in the infield, scoring just one run. 8-7 Modesto, at least for the moment. Ybarra would be up next, but he wouldn’t need to show off his PBL-leading power. Roadsters pitcher Garrison threw a pitch to the backstop and in came Santos from third base to tie the contest at eight runs apiece.
Ballers righthander Matt Maloney took the ball in the ninth, hoping to give Oakland a chance in an extra innings knockout round. After getting the leadoff hitter Williams to fly out, Maloney gave up a pair of singles, then walked Boyd to load the bases. With the game in the balance, Bryce Cannon hit a weak ground ball to Ybarra at first, setting up an easy throw to the plate to keep the game-winning run from scoring. On a 2-2 pitch, Maloney came through once again to strike out Logan Sutter and keep the Ballers’ hopes alive.
“Getting the ball in the ninth was a great opportunity,” Maloney explained. “They just told me if it was tied or we had the lead that I’d be getting the ball…fastball felt decent, slider was good tonight and I’m really building confidence in that pitch. I’ve given up most of my hits on the fastball this year, so leaning on my slider more should help with getting hitters off the fastball.”
Oakland sent their usual late-game-hero Cobb to the plate in the knockout round, facing off against Modesto’s Tyler Williams. First base coach James Harris pitched for the Ballers as he normally does. (For those new to this, each batter gets two minutes on the clock to hit as many home runs before five outs—any non-homer hit—or the time expires.)
Cobb made a quick first out, but then sent baseballs over the wall in left-center and then toward the scoreboard to give himself a 2-0 cushion. Cobb’s next swing fell short, making a second out. With about a minute left, he crushed a pitch to dead center for his third home run of the derby. He then sent two more baseballs over the left field wall before time expired. “Late Game Tremayne,” as coined by B’s broadcaster Gareth Kwok, had given Oakland a 5-0 cushion in the knockout round, and that would be plenty.
Williams hit two home runs for the Roadsters, falling three short of Cobb’s efforts. This was Cobb’s third opportunity this season in the knockout round, winning the last two.
It’s clear that he has become manager Aaron Miles’s go-to guy for that situation. “Yeah, they are fun,” Cobb explained of the knockouts, “and it’s always fun to win the game for your team. No matter the situation.”
Starter Blowers also touched on the impact that Cobb has made for the franchise. “Anytime that we go into the knockout round with Tremayne Cobb we’re feeling pretty good about ourselves. I mean, it’s just the clutch factor right? It’s the wow factor. The guy shows up when you need him. I think being a second-year guy to the organization and being able to show that on a regular basis means a lot to the young guys that are coming into the [team]...to just solidify himself as the core piece of this club.”
The Ballers are back at it tonight in Modesto with a 7:11 first pitch, as they look to take the series from the Roadsters and climb toward the .500 mark.
Photos and video from Catrina Christian and graphic from Chris Drue.
Nick Clementi is an Oakland native and lifelong Oakland baseball fan. He enjoys long walks on the beach and summer nights at Raimondi Park. He’s a Scrappy enthusiast who doesn't believe in sacrifice bunts. Sports content moderator by day, Ballers beat writer by night. Find him on Instagram and Twitter.
