Millikan Shines, Cobb Rocks Go-ahead Homer in 4-2 Win
Oakland Wins Fourth Games of Series
By Nevada Cullen
BOISE, Idaho -- The Ballers blasted three solo shots, including a Tremayne Cobb Jr. go-ahead homer in the seventh, in a 4-2 win over the Boise Hawks on Saturday. Starting pitcher Noah Millikan nearly completed seven innings and earned his first professional win, as Oakland came out on top for the fourth night in a row to take the series.
In just his third pro start, Millikan pitched into the seventh for the first time. The Berkeley native tossed 6.2 innings of two-run ball, and punched out six Hawks while walking only one.
With one out in the second, Christian Almanza and Cam Bufford hit back-to-back singles and each stole a base. Since both advanced into scoring position, Lou Helmig just needed a sacrifice fly to get the Ballers on the board first.
Almanza led off the fourth for Oakland and instantly doubled the lead. He sizzled a home run over the right-field wall with an exit velocity of 108 mph for his 10th long ball of the year.
But, Boise tied the game in the fifth. Jake Hjelle, who hit a pair of homers Tuesday, hammered a game-tying, two-run missile to left.
Cobb emphatically handed the lead back to the Ballers in the seventh. He led off the inning with his second pro round tripper, a 110 mph, 422-foot bomb to left.
Millikan walked the leadoff man in the seventh, but got the next two Hawks, finishing his day with his sixth strikeout. Next, Carson Lambert entered and induced a groundout to strand the tying run.
For only the fourth time this season, Lambert recorded more than three outs. Lambert left a couple more runners out to dry in a scoreless eighth to keep Oakland ahead by one.
Needing insurance in the ninth, Tyler Lozano stroked a solo shot to left for the Ballers. Lozano's second dinger of the year pushed the edge to 4-2.
Connor Sullivan, who suffered the loss after a blown save Tuesday, struck out the side this time in the ninth. The Oakland closer erased Noah Marcelo with a wipeout slider to end the game and picked up his league-leading eighth save of the campaign, a franchise single-season record.
Thanks to a rare loss by the Missoula PaddleHeads, the Ballers are back in a tie for first place in the Pioneer League. First pitch for the finale of the six-game series against the Hawks is set for 12:05 p.m. PDT Sunday. As always, you can listen to the action on 860 AM The Answer and on the Oakland Ballers YouTube channel.
