Pineda Spurs Ports to Friday Night Victory

Stockton, CA – Pedro Pineda went 3-for-3 with 4 RBIs and three Ports pitchers held the Lake Elsinore Storm to just five hits as Stockton snapped a six-game losing streak with a 6-3 victory on Friday night at Banner Island Ballpark.

Pineda opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning. With runners on first and second and one out after singles by Jose Mujica and Cooper Uhl, Pineda clubbed a three-run homer to right field off Lake Elsinore starter Dylan Lesko to give the Ports (34-60) a 3-0 lead.

The Storm (46-45) battled back in the top of the fourth inning against Ports reliever Luis Carrasco. With runners on the corners and two outs, Braedon Karpathios singled to left field to score Rosman Verdugo from third base. With Nik McClaughry going from first to third, the throw from Pineda in left field hit McClaughry sliding into third base and rolled into foul territory allowing him to score, making it 3-2.

With the game still 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Ports got a clutch hit for insurance. With one out Brayan Buelvas singled to center field, stole second base and moved to third on a fly ball to right field. After a strikeout, Yeniel Laboy singled to left field to drive in Buelvas and give the Ports a 4-2 lead.

After Lake Elsinore got a run in the top of the eighth cut the Stockton lead to one, the Ports rallied for two runs in the bottom half off Storm reliever Thomas Balboni to increase their cushion. Bjay Cooke started the inning with a walk, and after stealing second base he advanced to third with nobody out on a wild pitch. After Uhl struck out, Pineda came through with a single to center field on a 1-2 pitch to score Cooke giving the Ports a 5-3 lead. After Pineda stole second base, he advanced to third on a single to right by Elvis Rijo. Dereck Salom then lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to bring Pineda home increasing the Stockton advantage to 6-3.

Blaze Pontes retired the Storm in order in the top of the ninth to end the ballgame and the Ports’ skid.

Carrasco (3-4) got the win for Stockton allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits with six strikeouts over five innings. He followed top prospect Luis Morales who struck out five over three shutout innings in his Ports debut. Lesko (0-1) took the loss for Lake Elsinore surrendering three runs on four hits in two innings. With a scoreless ninth, Pontes picked up his seventh save of the season.

The Ports will try for back-to-back wins in game five of the series against the Storm at Banner Island Ballpark on Saturday night with first pitch at 7:05 pm and a fireworks show to follow the ballgame. Tickets are available at stocktonports.com.