Victery Gets Results, JetHawks Get Victory

LANCASTER — Joe Victery has the second-best earned-run average among the Lancaster JetHawks’ starting pitchers.

But it had been nearly two months since Victery posted his last victory before he out-pitched J.J. Pearsall in a California League game in front of 4,763 Tuesday night at the Hangar.

The JetHawks handed the San Bernardino Stampede a 9-4 defeat on the strength of a six-run seventh inning and the pitching of Victery (4-3), who hadn’t won since June 22 but was good enough to upstage Pearsall (13-8), who is tied for the league lead in victories.

Victery allowed three runs on four hits in 7 2/3 innings. Of his 111 pitches, 66 were strikes.

“It feels good to go 7 2/3 and win,” said Victery, who spent time on the disabled list with an elbow strain. “I wasn’t sure how my arm would do. It still hurts a little, but it’s coming around.”

Lancaster was locked in a 2-2 tie until the seventh. With one out and one run in on Jason Regan’s bases-loaded walk, Yuni Kim tripled to left-center field and Shawn Buhner followed with a towering home run to the same spot, making it 8-2.

Buhner and Kim each drove in three runs, with Buhner going four for four and extending his hitting streak to eight games. Buhner added two singles and an RBI-triple in the sixth that tied the game.

Lancaster (32-20) remained tied with High Desert and Modesto for the Valley Division lead. The Mavericks beat Rancho Cucamonga, 7-4, and Modesto beat Visalia, 7-5.

Aside from a two-run homer by Andy Owen that gave the Stampede (22-30) a 2-0 lead in the second, Victery was in control.

Catcher David Skeels of Thousand Oaks threw out a runner trying to steal for the fifth consecutive time.

Victery was replaced in the eighth after allowing a two-out double to Mike Metcalfe, who scored on a double by Rolando Avila off reliever Aaron Scheffer.

The JetHawks scored in the eighth on Cirilo Cruz’s RBI double. Jason Weekley homered off Scheffer in the ninth.

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* MINOR LEAGUE REPORT: C9