Game 84 Recap: It was Hot
Ballers wilt in the heat in 18-14 loss to Modesto
by Roberto Santiago
WEST OAKLAND— It was hot. It was so very hot. Seriously. It was like, opening scenes of Do the Right Thing hot. Sure, the weather app said it was actually 71 and also that it felt like 71, but I will tell you it felt like 110. I’m no stranger to heat. I’ve lived in D.C. in July, New York in August and Oakland in November. I am familiar, and I am telling you it was hot. It was so hot, the 68s drummers were working in shifts with some sitting under the stands for an inning to get out of the sun. It. Was. Hot.
It was also a day for two hot offensive baseball teams. Modesto jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, beating up on Oakland starter Hunter Day (0-4). Like Reed Butz the day before, Day couldn’t replicate the excellent form he showed in his previous start. As is often the case, the B’s were done in by the long ball. Day allowed three homers for four runs in the top of the first and two more dingers in a five-run in the top of the second. However, an early lead is a dangerous thing to have when facing these Ballers. Oakland answered with two in the first on a Nick Leehey round-tripper and added three more in the third while playing small ball. Brendan O’Sullivan brought Tristan Moore home with a double that moved Joey Winters to third. Jaden Collura hit a fielder’s choice that scored Winters and O’Sullivan came home thanks to a single by Esai Santos.
Modesto wasn’t done either. They pushed a 9-5 advantage to 12-5 in the fifth, scoring on a wild pitch and then a two-run shot by Cole Fellows. The it was the B’s turn to light up the scoreboard. Team ERA leader Valek Cisneros came in and shut out the Roadsters over the next two innings, giving his offense a chance to come back. The red-hot Winters hit his second home run in his second game with the Ballers to add two runs for the home team in the bottom of the fifth. Winters’s home run pace extrapolates to 96 over a full season, which would be…a record. Moore got the team three runs closer in the sixth with a home run that also scored Noah Blythe and Jeter Ybarra. Those two sizzlers brought in two more runs in the seventh on a sac fly and a single, respectively, and low and behold, the games was tied. Collura reached base on an error in the eighth that brought Logan Johnstone in for the Ballers first lead of the day. It was 8/22/26, aka Saturday, all over again. Until it wasn’t.
Julio Rosario, who had pitched a clean inning in the eighth, suffered a meltdown. Rosario walked the first two Modesto batters in the ninth before coming back with a strikeout of Osiris Johnson. Things were still looking up until Tyler Williams parked the first pitch he saw over the wall onto Campbell St. With that, the B’s found themselves behind yet again. Bryce Cannon added insult to injury, torching a pitch from Nathan Darden for an additional three-run jack. As the heat broke and the afternoon began to cool, so did the home team bats. Oakland managed one run on a Noah Blythe home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth but could get no closer.
Despite the loss, manager Aaron Miles saw the silver lining in the effort: “Day games are always tough here. Always very high scoring.” Miles noted, “That’s two series wins against the hottest team in the second half. Nobody wants to see us right now.” The loss, coupled with a Missoula win, put the Ballers back to six games behind the last playoff spot. “Obviously the math’s not mathing very well for us,” Miles observed, but he continued, “We’re getting a chance to test ourselves against the best in the league these last few weeks, and I feel good where the ball club's at. I wish we could start the season all over with with a lot of the club that's here right now.”
Odds and Ends:
Miles offered some thoughts on the impact of Charlie Hurley who was released on Saturday. “Big time in the clubhouse guy. Big time for all these pitchers, a guy who's been an affiliated ball, a local guy, a California guy. He had to fight all year long through some injuries and he made a lot of strides, really started to figure out how to pitch here and become a better professional than he was before. He meant a lot to the club.”
Wednesday is Aaron Miles bobblehead day. I asked Miles if he’d had a bobble head day before, “Actually, I had one bobblehead day in St. Louis when they were doing a tribute to the World Series team. That was the first one I had ever had. It's quite an honor and I’m just very, very grateful that the ownership stepped up and did something like that for me and the fans and especially for me and my family.” Miles did indeed have a bobblehead day in 2016, which you can read about in this lovely essay about Miles being the author’s favorite player. The Pittsburg Diamonds, Miles’s previous managerial stop, held a bobblehead day for him in 2017.
The last six home games of the season start on Tuesday. A huge series against Missoula kicks off at 6:35 PM for Hockey Night. See you there.
Photos from Dawn Pieper and Darrell Lavin Photography.
Video recap by Ben Verhoek.
Roberto Santiago is a third generation Berkeley boy currently raising the fourth generation. Roberto’s writing has appeared in Latina, Parents, and various online outlets. A lifelong baseball fan, Roberto worked briefly with the Boston Red Sox and once hit an RBI single off Spaceman Lee on a 2-2 changeup. It was his only at bat ever in a real baseball game. Find him on Instagram.
