Tribune-Herald
With Devon Ramirez struggling to find the plate, San Rafael had an easy time racking up another win against the Hawaii Stars.
Ramirez walked six batters as he battled command issues and failed to survive the fourth inning Saturday night, and the Pacifics beat the Stars 9-2 in San Rafael, Calif.
Kyle Devore pitched eight strong innings, Chase Fontaine finished with four hits and a double and Danny Gonzalez had three RBIs to help San Rafael win for the fourth straight time in the Pacific Association baseball series.
Mitch Levier hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot in the seventh, for the Stars (12-16), who need to win either end of today’s doubleheader to avoid getting swept in a six-game series for the second time this season.
Making his third start of the season, Ramirez also hit three batters and unleashed two wild pitches.
Maikel Jova hit an RBI double in the fourth, and a wild pitch brought home Darrick Hale with a run to give the Pacifics a 3-0 lead and brought on Hawaii manager Garry Templeton with a hook to pull Ramirez. He threw only 40 of his 84 pitches for strikes.
Ramirez (2-2) allowed five runs – Gonzalez greeted reliever Andrew Preimesberger with a two-run double – and four hits with three strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings.
Jova and Gonzalez each finished with two hits and had run-scoring singles in the fifth to go along with Fontaine’s as first-place San Rafael (19-6) tacked on four more runs. Jova and Hale each had two RBIs.
Waiakea graduate Michael Kenui struck out the side for the Stars in a scoreless seventh inning, and Kamehameha grad Reece Alnas registered two strikeouts and didn’t allow a run while handling the eighth.
Anthony Williams had two hits for Hawaii, scoring in the eighth on a passed ball.
Devore improved to 4-1, striking out four batters while giving up five hits, two runs and two walks.
Hawaii 000 000 110 — 2 5 1
San Rafael 010 440 00x — 9 12 1