Silver Sox knock off Outlaws

RENO - One thing Reno Silver Sox manager Les Lancaster can't complain about after the first two games of the Golden Baseball League season is the team's pitching staff.

Through two games, Reno pitchers have allowed just three earned runs and 12 hits against the Chico Outlaws.

Reno got a solid six-inning start from Nick Moran, and then took advantage of a key error in the bottom of the seventh to snap a 2-all tie and grab a 4-2 win before an announced crowd of 2,216 at Peccole Park.

"I had no doubts about our starting pitching," Lancaster said. "The key for us will be the bullpen and the defense.

"(Marshall) Plouffe and (Josh) Evans came in and did a great job. Our bullpen has done a great job so far. They are young, and it's a matter of stepping up, getting experience and having confidence in themselves."

Evans and Plouffe allowed two hits in their combined three innings of work. They combined to fan four and walk two.

Moran allowed two hits and two runs, all coming in the second inning. Chico took a 2-0 lead in the second when Todd Gossage, the son of former Yankee great Goose Gossage, hit a one-out single and moved to second when Moran walked Jesse Kovacs. After a wild pitch moved runners to second and third, Ricky Bambino followed with a two-out single.

Moran settled down and fanned four over the next four innings. In fact, those two hits were the last Chico got until the ninth inning when it got two more.

Just as they did on Thursday, the Silver Sox got their starting pitcher off the hook with a homer in the fifth, tying the game at 2.

Mike Done walked with one out and moved to second on Jordan DeVoir's infield out. Lead-off hitter Victor Hall followed with a homer to right off Chico starter Steve Jones, who was lifted after Travis Tully doubled to right-center field. Jake McKinley retired J.J. Sherrill to end the inning.

After a scoreless sixth, Reno went ahead thanks to a critical mistake by Chico shortstop Jesse Kovacs.

Jake McLintock struck out the first batter he faced. Up stepped Done, who went 0-for-4 in the opener. Done lined a ball in the right-center field gap and stretched it into a triple.

"It was a fastball in," Done said. "I knew I had hit it well. I picked up Les (Lancaster) as I hit second. I guess he bobbled the ball just slightly and he told me to keep coming. I was losing a little steam."

DeVoir struck out looking for the second out, but Hall kept the inning alive with a walk. Tully followed with a shot to shortstop which Kovacs couldn't come up with, allowing both runners to score.

Done said he talked with the rest of the team about its offensive production before the game. Reno has just 14 hits thus far, seven in each game, but haven't hit the ball hard a huge amount of times.

"Spring training was only nine or 10 days," Done said. "Guys that have played pro ball are used to two or three weeks. We were supposed to play up at Chico and that got rained out, so we only had one scrimmage and the rest have been intrasquad games which isn't the same. The timing will come."

Chico threatened in the ninth when Jason Matteucci hit a two-out double. David Pierson followed with a groundball just inside the bag at third. Dustin Hahn knocked it down, and Matteucci tried to take third on the play but was tagged out after a short rundown to end the game.

Notes: The Silver Sox PA announcer Mike Murray, also known as Mike Anthony from his disc jockey days, was punished by GBL officials for playing a drop-in comment after a call went against Reno Thursday night. His punishment was to umpire third base for one inning, but all he really did was stand out behind the bag and well off the line ... The series concludes with a 7 p.m. game tonight with Chico's Derrick Loop opposing Keaton Everitt ... Saint Mary's Hospital sponsored a 15-minute fireworks show after the game... Moran and Chico starter Jones both played at Elk Grove High School in the Sacramento area.