Butz Cruises, Titialii Plates Four in 9-2 Victory
The Ballers nearly notched their first shutout of 2025, as Reed Butz held the Ogden Raptors scoreless over seven innings on Saturday.
By Nevada Cullen
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Ballers nearly notched their first shutout of 2025, as Reed Butz held the Ogden Raptors scoreless over seven innings on Saturday. Marques Titialii paced the offense with four RBI in Oakland's 9-2 triumph on Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Night at Raimondi Park.
"Shout out all my Asians and Pacific Islanders," Titialii said, addressing the crowd postgame. "You know I had to put on for y'all today."
Titialii got things going for the Ballers in the second inning. After smashing a grand slam Friday, he came up clutch with the bases loaded again Saturday, sending a two-run single into left. A passed ball allowed Oakland to take a 3-0 lead in the second.
Then in the fourth, Titialii tattooed a two-run, opposite-field home run to right field. His second long ball in as many days established a 5-0 Oakland advantage.
Butz induced a couple of double plays to finish the fifth and sixth innings. The fifth-inning twin killing was the flashier of the two, as Tremayne Cobb Jr. made an athletic backhanded stop, and Christian Almanza scooped the eventual throw to first out of the dirt.
Quick outs were the theme for Butz on Saturday. He rolled through seven shutout frames and kept his pitch count under 70 by allowing just three hits and one walk.
In the seventh, Lou Helmig lined a two-out double down the left-field line to set the stage for Davis Drewek, who smacked his second homer Friday. Drewek snatched the Oakland home-run lead with his third opposite-field bomb, a two-run shot to left.
The Oakland defense showed off again in the eighth. Carter Mize crushed a ball to left center to start the inning, but Michael O'Hara sprinted back, leaped and crashed into the fence to rob him of extra bases. O'Hara made another running catch to retire the next batter and eventually completed the contest with a three-hit performance.
Tremayne Cobb Jr. wrapped up the scoring for the Ballers on the evening. He blistered an RBI double to left field for his third base hit of the game, which extended the Oakland lead to 9-0.
Carson Lambert threw a scoreless eighth, and Adam Bogosian closed out the 9-2 victory. After securing back-to-back wins, the Ballers can clinch a series victory by coming out on top for a third straight day.
First pitch for the finale of the six-game series against the Raptors is set for 1:05 p.m. PDT on Sunday. You can listen to the action on 860 AM The Answer and on the Oakland Ballers YouTube channel.
