JETHAWKS NOTEBOOK: SHOWING SIGNS OF LIFE : JETHAWKS' PLAYOFF CHANCES IMPROVE.Byline: Chris Cocoles Daily News Staff Writer Don't bury the JetHawks just yet. The shovels were in place for digging detail. The dirt was piled up in mounds outside The Epicenter. Looking at the matchups of the recently concluded California League The California League is a minor league baseball league which operates throughout the state of California. Before 2002, it was classified as a "High-A" league, indicating its status as a Class A league with the highest level of competition within that classification, and the fifth weekend schedule, it would have been easy, if not realistic, to prepare the eulogy for the JetHawks' playoff hopes. But here we are, coming off an idle day for the entire California League, and the JetHawks are just one game behind Modesto in the Valley Division wild-card race. The A's, who just trampled the JetHawks in a three-game sweep, played .500 ball in a four-game series against the bad-news Blaze from Bakersfield, the owners of the league's worst record. About 175 miles to the southeast, the JetHawks took three of four from the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes are a minor league baseball team in Rancho Cucamonga, California, USA. They are a "high-A" class team in the California League, and have been a farm team of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim since 2001. , 10-3 in their last 13 games and running away with the Freeway Division championship in both the first and second halves. ``We got the snot snot n. Nasal mucus; phlegm. kicked out of us (Friday in an 11-3 loss), then came back and played a very good game on Saturday (an 8-0 victory). Then we finally won a close game on Sunday,'' JetHawks manager Rick Burleson Sunday's 4-3 decision was more of a relieved sensation. The JetHawks never trailed but never could relax. ``(The Quakes) left 16 runners on base?'' a shocked JetHawks catcher Karl Thompson asked. ``Wow!'' Factor in the four errors charged to the JetHawks and the victory seems more like an escape. ``We didn't get hurt very much by the errors then,'' Thompson said. ``That's a credit to our pitchers.'' Some recognition should go to the Quakes, who misfired on scoring chances in every inning. They stranded 12 runners in scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when he is on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter hits an extra base hit, while a runner on . The JetHawks could also thank Bakersfield for splitting its four-game series with Modesto. ``We have to take care of our business. But I think a lot of the guys will be asking (on Monday) `Did Modesto lose last night?' '' said center fielder Anton French, whose RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in triple in the seventh broke a 2-2 tie Sunday. ``We've got a lot of work to do still.'' Now it's the JetHawks' turn to take on the spoilers from Bakersfield in a three-game series that begins tonight at Sam Lynn Ballpark Sam Lynn Ball Park is located in Bakersfield, California (4009 Chester Ave. Bakersfield, CA 93301 / 661-716-HITS) and is the oldest ballpark of the 10 team, Class-A Advanced, California League. . Run Anton run: The consensus in the press box, the 4,420 fans at The Epicenter and the Quakes players and coaches, was that French's seventh-inning triple landed in foul territory down the right-field line. But the only voice that mattered was home-plate umpire Toby Hoy, who appeared to raise his arms and signal the ball foul before extending his left arm out. ``They said it was fair,'' French said of the umpiring crew of Hoy and Tyler Hoffman. ``I just kept on running. I didn't want to make it look like I thought the ball was foul.'' Smoke gets in your eyes: It started as a rare smog-free, albeit cloudy and humid day in Rancho Cucamonga Rancho Cucamonga (răn`chō k  'kəmäng`gə), city (1990 pop. 101,409), San Bernardino co., S Calif. at game time Sunday. But the views of the adjacent San Gabriel Mountains San Gabriel Mountains, S Calif., E and NE of Los Angeles, running c.50 mi (80 km) westward from Cajon Pass. San Antonio Peak (10,080 ft/3,072 m) is the highest of the range. Citrus fruits are raised on the southern foothills. quickly became hazy and the air became difficult to breathe. The smoke from a nearby fire had blown into the stadium and hung around for almost an hour before the skies cleared again. A winning season: Sunday's game completed the 20-game season series against Rancho. The JetHawks defeated the Quakes 11 of 20 times and enjoyed a winning record against Rancho for the first time in franchise history. The JetHawks were 10-10 in 1996 and 7-12 last year. All in the family: Cirilo Cruz has been his family's most impressive performer in 1998. Leading the Cal League with 95 RBI, Cruz has hit in 18 of his last 20 games. But his cousin Jose Cruz Jr., suffering through a slumping season that's included a life-threatening allergic reaction allergic reaction n. A local or generalized reaction of an organism to internal or external contact with a specific allergen to which the organism has been previously sensitized. and a demotion de·mote tr.v. de·mot·ed, de·mot·ing, de·motes To reduce in grade, rank, or status. [de- + (pro)mote. by the Toronto Blue Jays "Blue Jays" redirects here. For other uses, see Blue Jay (disambiguation).. The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. to the minors, is coming back. The former JetHawk smacked a two-run homer in the eighth inning Sunday to rally Toronto past the Oakland A's 4-3. Through Sunday, Cruz was hitting .357 (10 for 28) with two homers, five doubles and eight RBI since returning from Triple-A Syracuse. His average was just .214 when the Blue Jays demoted him on June 14. ``He's confident and you can't have confidence when you're hitting .214,'' Blue Jays manager Tim Johnson told the Toronto Sun after Sunday's game. ``(Cruz) thinks he can hit anyone. He comes back mad when he makes an out; he didn't have that fire before.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO ``They left 16 runners on base? Wow! We didn't get hurt very much by the errors then. That's a credit to our pitchers.'' - Karl Thompson JetHawks catcher |
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