Walks Too Much as Ports Drop Opener Against 66ers

SAN BERNADINO, Calif. – Stockton Ports starting pitcher Jose Dicochea had an uncharacteristically wild night on Tuesday against the Inland Empire 66ers, issuing a season-high six walks in a 5-3 loss in game one of the six-game series.

Dicochea came into the game 2-0 with a sparkling 2.25 ERA on the season, but took his first loss of 2023 by allowing five runs in 3.1 innings pitched, on three hits and two strikeouts with the six walks.

He issued two free passes in the first that came in to score on a bloop single down the right-field line off the bat of catcher Brendan Tinsman for a 2-0 Sixers lead.

The Ports would tie it up in the top of the second though, when T.J. Schofield-Sam singled up the middle and advanced to second on a balk. Catcher Jose Mujica was robbed of a hit up the middle by the I.E. second baseman Jeremy Arocho, but it did move Schofield-Sam over to third with one out.

A second balk in the inning from 66ers starter Leonardo Garcia brought Schofield-Sam in to make it a 2-1 game. That was followed by a Jose Escorche walk and a triple to center by Dereck Salom to tie the game up at 2-2. Salom drove the ball to straight away center and it went over the centerfielder Nelson Rada and caromed off the wall for Salom’s first triple and RBI of the year.

But the walks would get Dicochea in trouble again in the fourth. He would issue three-straight walks to the seven, eight, and nine hitters of the Inland Empire order before Rada would rip a single just inside the first base bag past a diving attempt from Brennan Milone to score a pair of runs to make it 4-2.

Dallas Woolfolk replace Dicochea and a sac fly would plate one more run to make it 5-3 Inland Empire. Woolfolk would get a strikeout to end the fourth and pitch a scoreless fifth as well, as the Ports bullpen kept it close. Charlie Cerny pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh, and Carlos Guarate delivered a scoreless eighth.

The Ports would get one run back in the fifth on a sac fly from Milone, but a caught stealing of Colby Thomas at third and a fly out by Schofield-Sam would end the threat as reliever Joel Hurtado got the 66ers out of the jam and got the win throwing a hitless 4.2 innings to close it out.

Game two is set for 6:35 p.m. with RHP Gunnar Hoglund (0-1, 12.00 ERA) of the Ports set to take on RHP Walbert Urena (0-2, 8.71 ERA) of the 66ers.