Game 82 Recap, Aug. 21: To Be the Best…
Oakland wins third straight against Modesto 10-6 in aftermath of Jake Allgeyer trade
by Michael Thompson
WEST OAKLAND—The day started sadly and ended happily for the Ballers.
Around noon, the Ballers and Lake Country Dockhounds of the American Association announced a trade sending Oakland third baseman Jake Allgeyer to Lake Country in exchange for a player to be named later.
Allgeyer joins the Oconomowoc-based club after two years as a regular middle-of-the-order presence in the Oakland lineup, hitting 17 home runs in his 115 games with the Ballers. He might best be remembered for his first inning, 3-run home run in the deciding game of the 2025 Pioneer League Championship series, a blast that would give the Ballers a 3-0 lead that they would never relinquish en route to Oakland’s first professional baseball championship since 1989. He’ll now move to the American Association, where he’ll help the second-place Dockhounds chase down the Milwaukee Milkmen for the East Division pennant.
With “Tubby’s” (Jeter Ybarra’s nickname for his roommate) trade on the back of their minds, the Ballers would have been forgiven for dropping a game to the 28-5 Roadsters. Instead, Oakland would honor their former teammate with a relentless offensive win to stretch their streak over Modesto to three.
The scoring got started in the second, when cleanup hitter Noah Blythe homered on a wallscraper to left field. Shortstop TJ Rogers followed in the third with a homer of his own to give the Ballers a 2-run lead.
Modesto responded in the fourth, where a Bryce Cannon walk and Cole Fellows single put runners in scoring position to open the frame. Oakland starter Ren Abe-Arias, playing in front of his new home crowd for the first time as Baller, responded well, striking out Modesto second baseman Justin Boyd. With two outs to get, Abe-Arias forced catcher Hayden Dunhurst to roll into what should’ve been an easy double play, but Ballers second baseman Esai Santos yanked his flip to short and the Roadsters put their first run of the game on the board. Kingston Liniak followed with a sac fly and the game was tied.
Oakland just as quickly took the lead back.
Third baseman Nick Leehey homered to right center on a 2-out, 2-strike pitch, providing some of the same thump that Allgeyer had so often brought to the hot corner. Leehey had plenty to say to Dispatches about Allgeyer, his friend and teammate since the 2025 championship season: “I love Jake, man. I’ve been with him for the last two years. Go do great things. You know, playing third over there, too. So hopefully I can just do what he does out there as well.”
The Ballers more or less put the game away in the fifth, a 5-run explosion that saw four separate RBI singles, three of them coming off Pioneer League ERA runner-up Johan Castillo. The importance of small ball in the win streak against the talented Roadsters is not lost on the Ballers; nor is it on their biggest power threat, first baseman Ybarra: “It’s just trying to find ways to get runners on base is a big thing, and just getting those runners in is the biggest thing for us as well. We’ve been doing a good job getting them on and it’s just a matter of getting them in. We’re coming through right now, and it’s working really good for us.”
The Ballers ended the inning with an 8-2 lead.
Ybarra homered on Thursday in Modesto, giving him the Ballers franchise record for single-season home runs with 32. On that: “Oh, it feels surreal. I mean, I couldn’t do this without my family, friends, the fans that are at this team, and the team that’s with me. Happy I’m able to do this for everyone, honestly.”
Modesto picked up four runs in the 6th, helped by another error charged to the Oakland middle infield, but the game never felt in doubt. An impressive crowd of 3,413 fans made themselves heard all night, but never more so than when Abe-Arias pitched through the error to keep the Ballers ahead.
A Santos solo home run and RBI single by left-fielder Mitchell Sanford gave the Ballers a 10-6 lead, a scoreline that would remain the same as the Oakland bullpen threw three innings of shutout ball.
The Ballers settled into their dugout to watch the postgame drone show with a win that brought them to 18-16 on the half and 40-42 on the season, while Modesto fell to 28-5 and 55-27.
Odds & Ends
Manager Aaron Miles had this to say about the Allgeyer trade, which was interpreted by some as a white flag move for a Ballers team that’s on the outer fringes of the playoff race: “It’s a great opportunity for Jake, because he wants to play at a higher level. Because his path to affiliated baseball is going to be either being in the American Association or the Atlantic League and showing he’s one of the best hitters in those leagues. That’s his only path. So, we felt like it was an opportunity for him personally that he could not pass up.”
Allgeyer was 1-for-3 in his debut for the DockHounds last night.
Long Beach has lost the last two games to the Missoula PaddleHeads, which is not good news for the B’s playoff chances. But, at 57-25, Long Beach will not challenge the 2025 Ballers’ 73-23 best modern record in PBL history.
Friday was Teacher’s Appreciation Night at Raimondi Park. Nick Leehey’s mom and sister are teachers, “so that hits close to home. Mom did that for about 20 years. My sister is just getting into it now, so I appreciate all the teachers out there and what they do for the communities that they work in.”
Photos from Dawn Pieper.
Video recap from Ben Verhoek.
Michael Thompson is a Bay Area student entering his senior year of high school. He writes about MLB and other baseball leagues on his Substack, as well as for Dispatches. After high school, he plans to attend college and work in the sports industry.
