Storm Fall Short Against 66ers

LAKE ELSINORE – The Storm dropped a sloppy game to the Inland Empire 66ers 8-7 at home Friday night. The club rallied to tie the game twice and sent the winning run to the plate in the ninth inning, but came up short in the end.

The Storm turned to righty Eric Yost to make the start, his fourth since moving into the rotation. The 21-year-old out of Northeastern University got through the first inning unscathed, but then fell victim to the BABIP gods in the second. After a leadoff walk, he yielded a line drive to center that just barely cleared a leap by shortstop Wyatt Hoffman, then a sacrifice bunt that first baseman Romeo Sanabria wound up fielding on the left side of the infield without a chance to make a play.

Yost then got two straight grounders that could have been double plays, but the Storm defense could only record one out on each, allowing the visitors to put two runs on the board.

“Unfortunately, the theme this year is we’re giving away extra 90 feets,” said manager Lukas Ray. “In our prep work every day, there’s a strong emphasis on taking care of the baseball, but it’s just a theme in all of lower-level baseball. Everbody wants to hit, but you’ve got to be better at defense.”

The theme continued in the third inning as the 66ers benefited from a leadoff infield single and a Hoffman throwing error as they put two more on the board.

Yost, who showed a four-pitch mix built off a cutter and fastball that sits in the low 90s, rallied to set Inland Empire down in order on just eight pitches in the fourth, but gave up another run in the fifth when the middle of the lineup got to him. He finished his night charged with nine hits and five runs, leaving his ERA for the year at 5.96.

Nick Vogt has turned it on this month for the Storm. (Photo: Robert Escalante)

The Storm got on the board in the third inning when Nick Vogt led off the frame with his fifth consecutive hit. After the 66ers committed their own error on a would-be double play ball, Jay Beshears made them pay with a double deep into the left-center gap. One out later, Jacob Campbell, who joined the club from the complex earlier in the week, came through with a two-run single.

The home club tied the game in the next inning, taking advantage of a walk and hit batter before Hoffman floated an opposite-field single to right, the first of his two hits on the night.

After they went down in the top of the fifth, Sanabria yanked a fastball low and in over the high wall in right field for his fourth homer of the year. The big first baseman also had a single and a walk on the night and has now reached base in five straight.

Johan Moreno, making his second appearance in full-season ball, had traffic on the bases in both the sixth and seventh inning, but worked around it with three strikeouts. He came back out for the eighth, but allowed a walk before a sacrifice bunt attempt was ruled by the home plate umpire to have touched Beshears’ glove before going into foul territory. Inland’s Jose Macias alertly moved all the way up to third on the play.

Lefty Javier Chacon came on and induced a grounder, but the defense again couldn’t turn it into a double play. That came back to bite them when lumbering first baseman Sonny DiChiara doubled one out later to give the Angels’ affiliate a two-run lead.

The clubs exchanged runs over each of the next three half innings, but Elsinore couldn’t push across the tying run after a pair of walks to open the ninth.

Notes

Leodalis De Vries missed his eighth consecutive game with a left shoulder injury, but he was working at full speed defensively before the game with a brace on. The 17-year-old didn’t hit on the field with his teammates, but did track pitches while bunting. He appears on track to return to action next week, though he’ll likely be limited to hitting from the left side for a while. … Righty Isaiah Lowe will make the start Saturday. The 21-year-old righty has 16 strikeouts in 12.2 innings this year and is holding opponents to a .178 average. … The Storm pitching staff has now given up a league-high 179 runs on the year, including 30 unearned runs in 29 games.