Live From Stockton: Ports vs. Visalia 4/22/07

The Stockton Ports seven-game winning streak came to an end on Sunday afternoon, as the Ports fell to Visalia by a score of 13-6. We have the details of the game in photos inside...

Starter Ryan Webb tosses the ball to Tom Everidge to record the final out of the first inning. Webb allowed an unearned run in the first on one hit.

Cliff Pennington led-off the game with a double for the Ports. Pennington had two hits and a run scored in the game. After getting off to a very slow start, Pennington has brought his average up to .229 with a five game hitting streak that has seen him go nine for 24 with five runs scored.

Red-hot Luke Appert evened the score at one for the Ports in the bottom of the first by driving home Cliff Pennington with an RBI single. Appert is batting .512 on the season and the RBI was his eighth of the year. Pennington had doubled to lead-off the inning.

Everidge followed Appert's single with a mammoth two-run homer to left-field. It was his second homer of the season and it gave the Ports a 3-1 lead.

Centerfielder Javier Herrera led-off the second inning with a double off of the left-field wall. Herrera reached base twice on Sunday and scored both times. The double was his fourth of the season.

Shortstop Justin Sellers connected for a one-out double down the left-field line to bring home Herrera in the bottom of the second. It was Sellers' first double and third RBI of the year and it gave the Ports an early 4-1 lead.

Visalia first baseman Bryan Byrne erased the Ports' lead with a ringing three-run homer off of Webb in the top of the third. Byrne was the star of the game for the Oaks, as he went 2-5 with four RBI.

The wheels came off a bit for Webb in the third inning, as he allowed five runs on three hits, two walks and a hit batter.

The Ports clawed back into a tie in the bottom of the fourth when third baseman Frank Martinez crushed a long two-run homer to right. The homer was Martinez's second of the season. Martinez has 12 RBIs on the year.

Oaks starter Dallas Buck had a rough go of it on Sunday. He allowed six earned runs in three-plus innings.

Despite his shaky third inning, Webb turned in a decent performance on Sunday. He allowed only one hit during his last three innings of work and he struck out four of the last six batters he faced. In total, Webb struck out seven and walked two in six innings.

Steven Bondurant took over for Webb in the top of the seventh and he struggled. The lefty allowed five runs on five hits and a walk in only one-third of an inning. He also committed an error. Bondurant would be hung with the loss in this game.

Josh Alliston took over for Bondurant with a runner on third and one out. He stranded that runner and pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out one and not allowing a base-runner.

Luis Ramirez took over for Alliston in the ninth and retired the only batter he faced. He was removed after only one hitter despite the Ports being down five in the top of the ninth. After the game, Ports manager Darren Bush indicated that the A's had called Bush to ask that Ramirez be pulled from the game. Bush didn't know why Ramirez was pulled, but the right-hander might be headed to Midland or Sacramento. With Dallas Braden being promoted to Oakland, there is likely to be some shifting in the rotations of the A's minor league affiliates.

Rob Semerano had to take over for Ramirez on the fly and Semerano struggled, allowing two runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning. He had thrown two scoreless innings the night before.

Herrera makes a diving attempt at a short fly ball to center in the ninth. He would come up just short.

Herrera tries to beat out a grounder to third in the bottom of the ninth inning. He was called out.

All photos by Chris Lockard/Scout.com