Salazar, Rodriguez Shine in Storm’s Comeback Win

LAKE ELSINORE – After struggling early offensively, the Storm battled back to score a pair of runs in the eighth inning to defeat the San Jose Giants 4-2 at The Diamond. 

Starter Kannon Kemp looked sharp early, running his fastball up to 97 mph while retiring the Giants in order in the first with three straight ground balls. After notching a strikeout to begin the second inning, Giants left fielder Lisbel Diaz lined a shot up the middle that hit Kemp in the forehead. The ball ricocheted past Storm first baseman Kale Fountain, and Diaz ended up on second for a double. Kemp, who was knocked to the ground, was able to walk off the field under his own power and left almost immediately. 

“It did clip his bill, and he’s a tough kid,” said his manager, Brian Burres. “He actually was asking to stay out there, but we just couldn’t take the chance.”

After he was attended to by the training staff and getting a bandage on the middle of his forehead, Kemp returned to the dugout for the full game.

Braian Salazar gave the Storm crucial quality innings in relief. (Photo: Robert Escalante)

Lefty Braian Salazar took over for Kemp and looked sharp despite having to enter unexpectedly. Salazar used a low-90s fastball and an excellent breaking ball to strike out the next two Giants batters to end the inning. He breezed through the next two innings, striking out a season-high six batters and pumping strikes consistently before running into trouble in the fifth inning. 

“That was so big for us, for him to out there and cover into the fifth. It can go sideways real quick in those instances, but he did a great job getting the outs and keeping his pitch count where we could keep him in there into the fifth,” said Burres.

After Salazar plunked Jeremiah Jenkins to start the inning, he induced a hard-hit grounder that could have started a double play. Instead, it went under Fountain’s glove, putting runners on second and third. Juan Perez then singled home the first run of the night to give the Giants the early lead. Salazar bounced back, getting a grounder that was turned into a double play to cool things down a bit, but Gavin Kilen, the Giants’ first-round pick in last month’s drafty, singled up the middle to give the Giants a 2-0 lead. 

The Storm got one back in the bottom of the inning on a two-out RBI single from catcher Yoiber Ocopio. In the seventh, the Storm tied the game on a wild pitch that scored designated hitter Carlos Rodriguez. 

Lake Elsinore took the lead for good in the eighth inning with quality at-bats. After Kerrington Cross drew a leadoff walk, Alex McCoy delivered a hard-hit single to center. Rodriguez then rifled a ball to deliver a go-ahead single to plate the winning run.

The 22-year-old backstop has quietly been an effective hitter for a Storm team that lacks professional experience. He went 1-for-3 with a walk on the evening, raising his OPS to .865 with the Storm.

“I was with [Carlos] last year in Arizona. I love seeing him up there,” said Burres. “He just puts together good at-bats. Whenever he comes up in a big situation, I feel like we’re in a good spot.”

Kale Fountain added a sacrifice fly to give the Storm a little insurance. 

Adam Conrad pitched well over the final two innings, earning his sixth win of the season. Conrad threw mostly sliders and changeups, and while he wasn’t missing bats, he kept the Giants off-balance. The Storm have won two of the first three against San Jose and can earn at least a split of the series on Friday. 

Notes and Observations: Jorge Quintana had a rough night at the plate, going 0-for-4 at the plate with three strikeouts. He did make a few nice plays in the field, including fielding a slow grounder with his bare hand and throwing a runner out at first. … Ryan Wideman notched an outfield assist from center, throwing a dart to catch a runner trying to go to third base on a single to the left-center gap. He also showed elite speed on the basepaths. He went 1-for-4 at the plate.