Jordan Lawlar and Wilderd Patino went back-to-back in the first inning to get Visalia off and running and the Rawhide held on for a 7-6 win over Lake Elsinore at Valley Strong Ballpark Saturday night. Deyvison De Los Santos added a three-run shot in the third inning as Visalia built a 5-0 lead.
Lawlar and Patino each had three hits.
With one out in the bottom of the first inning, Lawlar hit his seventh home run of the year to right field and Patino followed with his sixth to nearly the same spot.
De Los Santos launched his sixth home run of the season to give Visalia a commanding lead while Yaifer Perdomo was mowing down the Storm with seven strikeouts over the first three innings.
But Lake Elsinore put up four runs in the fourth inning with a rally capped by Tyler Malone‘s first home run of the year, a two-run shot. Carlos Luis had a two-run single to get the Storm on the board.
Lawlar had a two-run single in the bottom of the fourth to give Visalia a little more room at 7-4, and they would need it as the Storm put up a single run in the seventh and then rallied for a run in the ninth. But the rally fell short as Junior Mieses stranded the tying and go-ahead runs with a strikeout to end the game.
Perdomo allowed four runs on three hits and a walk over four innings while striking out 10.
Lawlar extended his hitting streak to 10 games and is 20-for-44 over that stretch, raising his batting average to a league-leading .352.
Lake Elsinore won the first four games of the series and now lead it 4-1. Game six will be Sunday at 1:05PM.
SCOREBOARD
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – 0
FRESNO – 9
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SAN JOSE – 0
INLAND EMPIRE 3
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MODESTO – 0
STOCKTON – 4
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