Lake Elsinore, Calif — On a night when the Storm managed nine runs on 19 hits en route to a 9-1 victory, the star of the show was Pedro Avila. The righty cruised through seven scoreless innings carrying a no hitter into the fifth, and did not allow multiple runners in any inning until the sixth.
Avila mowed down the JetHawks relying mainly on a fastball that sat 91-94, and a devastating curve that sat 72-75 mph. The 20-mph differential made hitters flail uncomfortably all night. He mixed in a changeup at times at 81-83 mph but sat fastball/curve most of the game.
When asked about the difference between this start and last, Avila said “I really worked on staying in line this start. I opened up too much last start and that led to me losing control.”
The only time he did start to open up was in the sixth. Avila walked two with one out, but two great defensive plays by Buddy Reed and Edward Olivares ended the inning and preserved the one hitter.
“It’s a fantastic feeling as a pitcher to know that you have a great defense backing you up,” said Avila. “They were excellent tonight.”
Offensively, it was a total team effort. Every player had at least one hit, five different players scored runs, and five had RBIs.
Olivares led off the game with a rocket shot off the left field scoreboard for his second home run of the year. The 22-year-old acquired for Yangervis Solarte had four hits on the night and is now hitting .364 with a .997 OPS on the season. He owns a mini-four game hitting streak.
Reed impressed as much. The big switch-hitter had three hits tonight and has five in the last two games. He placed a bunt perfectly down the third base line for a single in the fourth.
The Storm scored in each of their first four innings. By the time Lancaster recorded their first hit, the Storm were already up 6-0.
Giant right-hander Trevor Megill closed out the game for the Storm. He struck out four over two innings throwing almost exclusively fastballs at 94-97 mph. He did give up a home run with two outs in the ninth to lose the shutout.
Notes: The benches cleared three times on the night. First when Eguy Rosario (3-5, 2B, 3 RBI) had a hard slide into second base. It was a completely legal slide but the shortstop took offense. An argument followed and the benches cleared. In Eguys next at bat the first pitch, was high and tight. Eguy dove out of the way, benches cleared, and Lancaster’s pitcher and manager were both ejected. Finally, when Roberto Ramos homered in the ninth, Marcus Greene Jr. said something to him as he crossed home plate. Ramos turned around and started screaming, causing the benches to clear one final time, but there were no ejections. … Rosario had his first three-hit game in full-season ball. The 18-year-old sports a .294 average and .588 slugging percentage through nine games.
