Bears hang on against Dust Devils

PASCO, Wash. — Finding some gold buried in their lineup, the Yakima Bears made two big innings hold up for a 6-5 victory over Tri-City in the final game of their series Wednesday night at Gesa Stadium.

Not that these teams are parting ways, just sites. The Bears host a three-game set with the Dust Devils starting tonight.

Ronnie Freeman, batting seventh in Yakima’s lineup, was 4 for 4 and No. 9 batter Daniel Poma drove in three runs as the Bears moved above .500 at 7-6 and retained their two-game lead in the East Division.

Scoring three runs in the fourth and sixth innings to build a 6-2 lead — two big innings that saw the Bears produce seven of their 11 hits — Yakima then had to sweat it out when the Dust Devils rallied with their own three-run inning to pull within 6-5 in the eighth.

But Yakima reliever R.J. Hively slammed the door, getting the third out in the eighth when Tri-City had the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position and then cruising through a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his first save.

Trailing 1-0 early, the Bears pounced for three runs in the fourth inning. With one out, Jacob House, Michael Lang, Mark Ginther and Freeman hit four consecutive singles to tie the game and, after a second out was recorded, Poma came through with a clutch two-run single to plate Lang and Ginther for a 3-1 lead.

Tri-City whittled the margin to 3-2 before Yakima broke loose for another three runs in the sixth.

Once again it was a hit parade with the same group as Ginther and Freeman had back-to-back singles and Loftus followed with an RBI double. Poma added a sacrifice fly for a 6-2 lead.

Yakima starter Alexander Carreras worked five innings with five strikeouts and five hits, left with a 3-2 lead and pushed his season record to 3-0 with a 2.12 earned-run average.