VICTORIA, B.C. — The Lefties blew up for four runs in the ninth inning with help from a three-run home run from Jason Dicochea to pull out a come-from-behind 8-7 win Sunday over Victoria.
Drew Minter also hit a three-run home run in the first inning for the Lefties, who hit five home runs over the weekend and are leading the West Coast League with 14 home runs in 15 games.
Victoria scored two runs in the seventh and two in the eighth to take a 7-4 lead into the ninth.
Tristan Hanoian started the ninth-inning rally with a Braden De Benedictis followed with a single, then Rykker Tom hit a double in the ninth, driving in Hanoian to make it 7-5. Dicochea followed with his go-ahead home run.
Dicochea went 2 for 4 on the day with three RBIs. Minter was 1 for 4 with three RBIs. Kyle Schimpf was 1 for 2 with a run scored and an RBI while Rykker Tom was 1 for 1 with a double, a run scored and an RBI.
Baxter Halligan pitched the last 1 1/3 innings, giving up a hit and a walk to pick up the win.
With the dramatic ninth-inning win, the Lefties leaped from possibly being in fifth place in the WCL’s North Division to second, 1½ games behind first-place Bellingham.
Saturday loss
In Saturday’s game, the HarbourCats used a five-run sixth inning to overcome three Port Angeles home runs as the Lefties’ Canadian neighbors finally bested them 6-5.
Schimpf, Ronnie Rust and Austin Earl all hit home runs for the Lefties, but a quartet of HarbourCats pitchers kept the Lefties batters at bay over the last four innings, not allowing a run after the fourth.
Meanwhile, the HarbourCats rallied for five runs in the sixth, with two runs coming in on a wild pitch and two more on a pair of Lefties’ errors.
Schimpf finished the game 2 for 4. His home run was his fourth of the year, which leads the West Coast League. Rust was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and Earl drove in two runs with his home run. Tom was 2 for 3 with a double.
Lefties starter Garrett Westberg pitched well enough to win, going five innings, and giving up one earned run on three hits, three walks and four strikeouts. Triston Busse pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for the Lefties, giving up two hits and no runs to lower his ERA to 0.63 in 14 1/3 innings. Joshua Thompson pitched 2/3 of an inning in the sixth and took the loss.
The Lefties (8-7) get today off, then return home for a 6:05 p.m. game Tuesday at Civic Field against Corvallis
Lefties 8, HarbourCats 7
Lefties 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 — 8 6 0
HCats 0 2 0 0 1 0 2 2 0 — 7 11 0
WP: Halligan LP: Huang
Pitching
Lefties — Sutorius 4.2IP, 6H, 3ER, BB, 2K; Ruwe 1.2IP, 2BB, 2K; Frey 0.1IP, 2H, 2ER, BB; Minter 1IP, 2H, 2ER, BB, K; Halligan 1.1IP, H, BB.
HCats — Stovman 3IP, 2H, 3ER, BB, 3K; Walker 3IP, H, ER, BB; Potter 1IP, K; Humphries 1IP, K; Huang 1IP, 3H, 4ER, BB, K.
Hitting
Lefties — Dicochea 2-4, HR, 2R, 3RBI; Minter 1-4, HR, 3RBI; Schimpf 1-2, R, RBI, BB; De Benedictis 1-1, R; Tom 1-1, 2B, R, RBI.
HCats — Malinchak 2-5, 2R, 2RBI; Brown 2-5, R, 2RBI; Demeter 1-3, R, 2BB; Grinstead 1-2, R, RBI, BB.Haney 2-3, RBI.
HarbourCats 6, Port Angeles 5
Saturday’s Game
Lefties 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 — 5 8 2
HCats 0 0 1 0 0 5 0 0 x — 6 7 0
WP: Loewen LP: Thompson
Pitching
HarbourCats — Helton 5IP, 7H, 5ER, 3K; Loewen 1IP, BB, 2K; Ho 1IP, H, BB, K; Huang 1IP, K; Yoshirara 1IP, BB, 2K.
Lefties — 5IP, 3H, ER, 3BB, 4K; Thompson 0.2IP, 2H, 3ER, 3BB, K; Busse 2.1, 2H, BB, K.
Hitting
HarbourCats — Smith 2-4, 3B, R, RBI; 2-3, 2R, BB; Spohn 2-3, 2B, 2R, BB, Bigford 1-4, R; Demeter 1-3, 2B, RBI; Malinchak 1-3, SF, RBI, SB.
Lefties — Tom 2-3, 2B; Schimpf 2-4, HR, 2R, RBI; Rust 2-3, HR, 2R, 2RBI; Earl 1-2, HR, R, 2RBI; Rosenberg 1-3.
