Bears Win Fourth-Straight Game

The Yakima Bears beat the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 8-5 Thursday night at Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer, Oregon. The Bears have now won four-consecutive games, and the team has scored eight or more runs in each of those four games.

Salem-Keizer scored a run in the second inning and two more in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead. Not only did the Bears not score in those first four innings, the batters managed only one hit. That all changed in the fifth inning when the Bears offense exploded for five runs on six hits. After Kevin Medrano and Josh Parr reached on RBI-singles to score Mike Lang and Danny Poma, Jimmy Comerota capped the inning with a three-run home run. Three doubles from Mark Ginther, Lang, and Medrano led to three runs in the seventh inning, while the Volcanoes scored only two more runs all game.

The Bears outhit the Volcanoes 11-9, which included a season-high five doubles and Comerota’s home run. Ginther went 3-for-4, Lange finished 2-for-5, and Kevin Medrano ended the night 2-for-5. Shaun Cooper reached three times on walks and leads the team with 18 on the season.

Jose Jose earned his first win of the season after allowing an earned run in only two thirds of an inning pitched. Starter Kyle Owings allowed three earned runs in three and two thirds innings. Burgos tossed two and a third scoreless innings behind Jose. Victor Acosta earned his second save of the season after a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

The now 17-10 Yakima Bears have their largest lead in the Northwest League’s East Division at four games. Friday the Bears and Volcanoes play game three of the five-game series at 7:05. Lefty Alex Carreras of the Bears and right-handed pitcher Raymundo Montero of the Volcanoes are the probable starting pitchers.