RENO — When Carson has visited Bishop Manogue over the years, whether it’s in the spring or summer, the outcomes have not been very good.
So, it was nice to see satisfied looks on the faces of the Blue Jays as they left the field following a 7-0 win over the Reno A’s on Thursday night.
The recipe was simple — a masterful four-hit performance by lefty Vernon Painter and an aggressive approach at the plate that netted 11 hits.
Painter’s performance was reminiscent of his win against Spanish Springs when he threw just 84 pitches in seven innings. Against the A’s, he needed just 77 pitches over six innings before handing off the ball to Jade Stotts, who pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
“I felt really good,” Painter said. “Throwing to my catcher before the game I felt really strong as soon as I started throwing. I was throwing the slider a lot to both (lefties and righties) for first-pitch strikes. I felt the curveball starting to hang a little more in the sixth.”
Not surprising when you consider Painter threw around 90 pitches on Monday. He is taking a family trip this weekend, so coach Bryan Manoukian wanted to make sure he got some work in.
The A’s only got two runners to third base the entire contest, in the second and in the sixth. Painter had just one 1-2-3 inning, and that came in the fourth when he induced the A’s hitters into three infield outs.
“Vernon threw very well,” Manoukian said. “He commanded multiple pitches for strikes and kept them off balance. I’m sure he could have gone out there for the seventh.”
While Manoukian was pleased by Painter’s effort, he was ecstatic about his team’s offense, especially in the early going when the Blue Jays drove A’s starter/ace Josh Rolling from the game in the second inning.
“Josh didn’t locate his curveball,” Manoukian said. “We were aggressive on fastballs in the zone. We strung some things together. They did a good job of taking our approach to the plate.”
Rolling allowed a walk to Casey Martensen and a single to Garritt Benevidez (3-for-3). Martensen moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a double by Josh Ingram. Randy Herrera followed with a run-scoring single to make it 2-0. Ingram was cut down at the plate trying to score from second on the play. Rolling left after walks to Justin Stevens and Kenny Aydelott, and Seth McGrath retired the side without further damage.
The Blue Jays added two more in the third when Delsin Roberts singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored when Benevidez’s single was misplayed in the outfield. Ingram drove in the second run of the inning with a sacrifice fly.
Carson extended the lead to 5-0 in the fifth when Martensen hit a two-out double and scored on an error. The sophomore-to-be has been a bright spot this summer. He caught Painter and did a solid job.
“Martensen was on JV this year,” Manoukian said. “He has a very mature approach and good plate discipline. He’s hacking on anything close. He did a good job defensively blocking balls. It’s nice to have two catchers. Bryce (Baker) had been catching the last eight or nine games, so we decided to give him a break.”
The Blue Jays closed out the scoring in the top of the seventh when Kahle Good powered a ball over the right-centerfield fence for a solo homer and Benevidez singled home Josh Buchan, who had reached on a single.
Carson hosts Spanish Springs on Friday at 7:30 p.m., and then hosts the Reno Knights in a Saturday doubleheader starting at 11 a.m.
