Game 56 Recap: Rejoice!
Ballers Snap Skid; Beat Streaking Coast 2-1 with Pitching Gem(s)
by Nick Clementi
Ballers fans, rejoice!
After seven losses to begin the second half and playoff hopes dwindling, fan-favorite Reed Butz rose to the challenge in Long Beach.
It’s fair to say this wasn’t the typical Pioneer League game. Aside from a solo home run in the 2nd by Easton Jones of the Coast, Oakland’s starting pitcher Reed Butz and Long Beach’s Cole Percival matched each other inning after inning. That of course means scoreless frames, but in this case also nearly identical lines from the two starters: Butz finished with four hits allowed, one walk, and four strikeouts over six and a third innings. Percival allowed four hits, one walk, and struck out five in six innings.
Oakland’s first hit of the game wouldn’t happen until the 4th inning, when Ballers first baseman Jeter Ybarra singled to extend his hit streak to 22 games. The Ballers only managed three other hits against Long Beach right-hander Percival.
A one-out single by Jacob Jablonski in the 7th inning prompted Oakland manager Aaron Miles to make a move. Still trailing 1-0, Valek Cisneros was brought on to relieve Reed Butz, ending the night for the veteran left-hander. Cisneros allowed a 2-out single before eventually escaping the jam.
Esai Santos led off the 8th inning for the B’s. He walked and then stole second. Ybarra grounded out to first, getting Santos to third base. Long Beach manager Troy Percival went to the bullpen, replacing the lefty Jaxon Byrd for right-hander Jonathan Kozasky. Up to the plate came the newly signed OF Tristan Moore, looking for his first professional hit. Moore seized the moment, shooting an 0-1 fastball to the left of the diving second baseman, tying the game for the B’s at 1-1.
“I was feeling pretty good,” Moore told Dispatches. “I was trying to get something in the zone and get it in play up the middle.”
Jake Allgeyer then walked, and Nick Leehey flew out to RF, advancing Moore to third. In a year that hasn’t had much luck go the Ballers way, Cam Bufford was on the receiving end of a gift at the perfect time. Long Beach 2B Patrick Roche bobbled a fairly routine ground ball to his left, handing Oakland a 2-1 lead.
After a Long Beach walk and single in the bottom of the 8th, Cisneros handed the ball over to right-hander Langston Burkett. Miles’s decision aged well, as Burkett would strike out two of the PBL’s best in Emilio Corona and Jablonski.
Brendan O’Sullivan singled and stole second to start the 9th, but Oakland would fail to tack on any insurance runs. Langston Burkett went back out for the last of the 9th, and Easton Jones led off with a single. With Ballers fans in the lively YouTube chat on edge and the team in desperate need of a win, Burkett buckled down against the Coast. He struck out Robert Pitts and Johnny Pappas before getting Anthony Mata to fly out and secure the five-out save. The Ballers’ losing streak was over, and they’d notched their first win over Long Beach in their past ten matchups. Long Beach saw its own 11-game winning streak end. For his part, Burkett has settled into a late-inning role for Oakland, only allowing two runs in his last ten-and-a-third innings.
After coming through with the game-tying hit, Tristan Moore told me, “It feels great. It feels great to help the team win.” His goals are simple: “to do whatever I can to help us win games.”
It hasn’t been an easy season for Ballers pitching, and there has been quite a bit of turnover for a variety of reasons. The only remaining starting pitchers from the beginning of the year are Charlie Hurley and Aidan Risse. The timing was right to add a veteran starter who can provide stability and upside for the Ballers, and in just his second start since returning to the B’s, Butz demonstrated why he was brought back to Oakland for a third time.
“Hopefully [I can be] a boost for everyone, teach where I can, help when needed, and just be the best teammate I can be,” said Butz. “And help our guys by giving us a chance to win when I’m out there.”
With Butz’s eight strikeouts since returning to Oakland, the 2025 PBL champion is just seven punchouts away from catching Zach St. Pierre for most strikeouts in Ballers history.
The Ballers are back at it in Long Beach tonight at 6:35, looking to win a series over the Coast for the first time since May.
Photos from Guy Sliwinski in Long Beach.
Video recap from Ben Verhoek.
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.
