Visalia OF Tim Tawa went 5-for-5 and starter Kyle Backhus threw five strong innings as the Rawhide evened their series with Rancho Cucamonga with a 15-5 win Friday night. Tawa had two doubles, a triple, two RBIs, two stolen bases and scored three runs. Backhus allowed one run on two hits and a walk with five strikeouts.
The Rawhide scored in each of the first five innings as they built a 12-1 lead. A five-run fourth inning gave Visalia a commanding 10-1 lead after Rancho Cucamonga got on the board in the top of the inning to make it 5-1. DH Adrian Del Castillo added on in the fifth inning with a two-run homer, his first with the Rawhide.
2B Channy Ortiz had four hits and 3 RBIs. Five Rawhide batters had multi-hit games as the team belted out 18 hits.
In back-to-back winning starts, Backhus has pitched 10 innings and allowed one earned run on four hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts.
OF Jose Ramos led Rancho Cucamonga’s offense with three hits, including a double and his fourth homer of the year.
The series is even at 2-2 with two more games to play. For whatever it’s worth, Visalia has won all of its Saturday games in August.
SCOREBOARD
MODESTO – 4
FRESNO – 1
SAN JOSE – 5
LAKE ELSINORE – 12
INLAND EMPIRE
STOCKTON
Postponed – COVID-19 Precautions
