A plateful of Tacos and Cande too much to handle for Ports, sweep Stockton 8-1

Fresno, CA (Sunday, July 24) – The Fresno Tacos (55-35, 14-10) sizzled past the Stockton Ports (32-58, 7-17) 8-1 Sunday evening from Chukchansi Park. With the triumph, the Tacos improved to 21-3 (+112 run differential, 202-90) versus the Ports this year and 38-10 against Stockton over the past two seasons. Fresno has won eight straight home games, earned their third series sweep of Stockton and brought out the brooms for the fourth time overall in 2022.

The Tacos offense supplied 12 hits with every batter reaching base at least once. Four of the nine starters tallied multiple hits and a quartet of batters notched at least one double. Ben Sems led the charge with two doubles and one run scored. His two doubles tied a season-best by a Fresno batter. Benny Montgomery also had a double among his two hits. Montgomery’s two-bagger just missed going out, hitting the top of the pole in left-center field and bouncing back into play. He provided two RBI and a walk while extending his hit streak to eight games. Bryant Quijada and Cuba Bess both nailed doubles with the latter picking up his first Fresno hit.

Besides the five doubles, the rest of the Tacos lineup had strong games. Adael Amador reached base three times, raced home twice and stole two bases. Yanquiel Fernandez had two hits and one RBI. AJ Lewis smoked two hits and drove in one run. Yorvis Torrealba hustled to first three times with two of his plays ending in run-scoring errors by the Ports.

The offensive support was backed by Fresno starter Jarrod Cande (4-2, win). The righty tied his career-high with six innings pitched. Cande allowed one run on four hits and two walks while fanning five. Over eight starts and 12 appearances, Cande has not permitted more than two earned runs. A trio of relievers followed Cande with scoreless outings. Felix Ramires, Tanner Propst and Angel Chivilli tossed a trio of combined innings, striking out three.

Stockton mustered their only run in the fifth on a Mariano Ricciardi ground-rule double. Ricciardi made a couple defensive web gems for the Ports as well. Dheygler Gimenez (0-3) suffered the defeat after four frames of work. Hunter Breault punched out three over two lights out innings. The clubs will enjoy an off day on Monday.

Top Performers: Fresno Tacos (Colorado Rockies)

• RHP Jarrod Cande (6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K)

• 2B Adael Amador (1-3, RBI, 2 R, BB, HBP, 2 SB)

• CF Benny Montgomery (2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB)

Top Performers: Stockton Ports (Oakland Athletics)

• 2B Mariano Ricciardi (1-4, 2B, RBI)

• SS Alexander Campos (1-3, R, BB)

• RHP Hunter Breault (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K)

On Deck:

Tuesday, July 26 @ Modesto Nuts, Fresno RHP Cullen Kafka (3-2, 3.83) vs. Modesto TBA, 7:05 pm PT

ON THAT FRES-NOTES:

The alter ego that started it all, the Fresno Tacos, returned to Chukchansi Park this series for “Tacos Weekend.” This year’s Tacos colorway features purple and black as a tribute to both the Colorado Rockies, Major League affiliate of the Grizzlies, and the team’s original 1998 branding.

Fresno has mashed 55 homers over their 24 affairs against Stockton this season, with four contests of five taters or more. On the other side of the ball, the Tacos’ pitching staff has struck out 213 batters over the past 20 contests against the Ports.