Adame silences Fresno City bats with career night

Brandon Adame unequivocally wanted the ball.

After getting roughed up in two relief appearances against Fresno City College a year ago, the Merced College right-hander had revenge on his mind.

Adame was disappointed not to get the call when the Blue Devils were forced to go to the bullpen early in Tuesday’s trip to Fresno. He wouldn’t have to wait long on Thursday night, however, as MC starter Nicholas Gonzales struggled with his command. Gonzales couldn’t make it out of the second inning, and Adame was the first arm called out of the bullpen. He’d prove to be the only one necessary.

A great leaping catch by left fielder Dalton Beatty helped him sidestep a bases-loaded jam he inherited in the second inning, and then the sophomore sidearmer threw up nothing but zeroes the rest of the way. Adame had never tossed more than 2 2/3 innings in his entire Blue Devils career, but he took the bump for 7 1/3 innings of scoreless relief on Thursday. Adame allowed just one hit and struck out a career-high nine as Merced College beat Fresno City 10-3 at Blue Devil Field.

The victory pulls the Blue Devils (16-12, 13-4 Central Valley Conference) back within two games of the Rams (17-9, 12-2) for first place in the CVC, and keeps them ahead of third-place Reedley (10-4 CVC).

“I wanted them bad,” Adame said. “I was disappointed not to get the call on Tuesday, but I was ready to go if we needed me tonight.

“Honestly, my first thought when I went in there was I’d better get us out of this, or I’m going to get pulled quickly. After we got out of the second, I just threw strikes and let my defense play behind me. My fastball was definitely working tonight. I hit a few sliders here and there, but my fastball was consistent.”

The same can’t be said for the Blue Devils’ starting pitchers so far in the three-game series.

Gonzales had his second consecutive rough outing as he struggled with a tight strike zone. Fresno City struck for a pair of runs off him in the opening inning, without a hit or even a ball out of the infield.

Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out. Logan Poisall forced in a run with a walk and Troy Stainbrook followed with an RBI fielder’s choice.

The Blue Devils picked Gonzales right back up in the bottom half of the inning, putting together a two-out rally. Curtis Kellogg doubled in a pair of runs to tie the score and Alex Pallios doubled him in to put MC up 3-2.

It didn’t last long as a hit batter and a walk got Gonzales right back into trouble with two down in the second. Conly Biglione singled in a run to tie the score, and Adame got the call out of the bullpen after Gonzales hit his third batter to load the bases. Poisall gave an 0-2 pitch a ride, but Beatty likely saved three runs with his leaping catch just shy of the left-field warning track.

It was one of the rare pieces of good contact the Rams got off Adame in the game. He retired the first 10 batters he faced in order, not allowing a baserunner until a lead-off walk to start the sixth.

“With (Blake) Cederlind basically unavailable after Tuesday, we were looking to other guys to step up,” Blue Devils coach Chris Pedretti said. “Adame did exactly what we needed. He attacked the zone and threw strikes. Our starters the last two games have pitched like they were afraid of contact. He showed it doesn’t matter how hard you throw, if you pitch ahead in the count and let your defense make plays, then good things will happen.

“You don’t expect him to go the rest of the way when you put him in, but we needed a performance like that.”

While Adame calmed things down for MC defensively, the Blue Devils offense applied constant pressure on Fresno. Merced got at least one runner on base in every inning and got the Rams to throw the ball around a little bit, committing a season-high seven errors.

Ricky Mena put the Blue Devils back up for good in the bottom of the second with a two-out, run-scoring single. MC then put the game out of reach with a six-run fourth inning.

Fresno’s defense imploded with four errors in the inning. Victor Tiscareno (two runs, two RBIs) delivered the big blow with a two-out, two-run single. Two more scored two batters later when an errant throw on a Pallios grounder went into the Rams’ dugout. David Vidauri capped the rally with a run-scoring single as Merced College sent 11 to the plate in the inning.

The rubber match of the series will be played in Fresno at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 11:07 PM with the headline "Adame silences Fresno City bats with career night."