By Sam Weismann ( Martinez Clippers )
Photos by Mark Fierner ( Martinez News-Gazette )
MARTINEZ, Calif. — The Clippers pulled off a two-game sweep of the Napa Silverados, scoring a total of 17 runs and defeating Napa by finals of 8-4 and 9-4. With this second sweep of the 2018 campaign, the Clippers improve to 7-7 in the second half and 6-2 at home in the same period.
A bench-clearing incident in the series opener led to one ejection, as the Clippers led 2-0 after three innings on an Alan Mocahbee (2-4, 3 RBI) solo home run, the first of two for Mocahbee on the evening, and a Nathan Etheridge (1-3, 2 RBI) sac fly.
Grayson Weber, starting for Martinez, set down the first 10 he faced but gave up a pair of two-run homers in the 4th and the 5th to put the Silverados up 4-2 – but with the game into the bullpens, that would be all Napa could muster, with Dalton Bernardi (1-0) picking up the win in relief and Rob Humes picking up the save (2).
The Clippers went on to score six unanswered runs, with back-to-back home runs by Jacob Barfield (9) and Shaine Hughes (4) giving the Clippers a 5-4 lead in the 6th – Chris Butcher, who’d allowed only three long balls in 37 IP to that point, and Jacob Barfield got into it, as their argument set the stage for the tumult to come.
After Alan Mocahbee’s second homer of the game in the 7th put the Clippers up 7-4, both benches nearly emptied as Zach Taylor of Napa and Mocahbee began arguing at home plate as Mocahbee rounded the bases, prompting umpire Eric Thompson to separate the two – after a mound visit by Tito Fuentes Jr., manager of the Silverados, Chris Butcher delivered a first-pitch beanball to Nathan Etheridge to get himself immediately thrown out. Both sets of coaches successfully kept their teams near their respective dugouts, as no punches were thrown (and, as of press time, there was no information on any suspensions issued). The Clippers would go on to win, 8-4.
In game two of the set, the Silverados would drop their seventh in a row by the final of 9-4, as Jimmy Lunardelli and Nathan Etheridge would combine to go 7-9 with four RBI and five runs scored.
The Clippers needed only four hits in the first inning to jump out to a 4-0 lead, as Jacob Barfield (1-3) homered for the second consecutive game to drive in three and Nathan Etheridge (4-5) came through with a clutch two-out RBI single. Martinez would lead 8-1 by the fifth inning, getting RBI from Devin Carter (0-4) and Jimmy Lunardelli (3-4) to back up a six-inning two-run performance from Logan Campbell (W, 2-0).
