Luzardo Shines, Offense Sputters as Ports Are Shut Out on Opening Night

by Ethan Kassel / A’s Farm Stockton Correspondent

Jesus Luzardo lived up to the hype that surrounded him throughout spring training by putting together a stellar outing in the Stockton Ports’ home opener. The 20-year-old allowed just one run on four hits over 4 2/3 innings while striking out six. But a quiet night by Stockton’s bats led the Ports to a 4-0 shutout loss to the visiting Lake Elsinore Storm on a damp Thursday night in the Central Valley.

46 of Luzardo’s 69 pitches went for strikes, and the lone walk he allowed was issued to the first batter he faced, Lake Elsinore right fielder Edward Olivares. After that, he saw just one more three-ball count on the night. Luzardo finally encountered trouble in the fifth inning when he allowed a double to second baseman Eguy Rosario and an RBI single to left fielder Nate Easley, ending his night.

Offensively, the Ports could do very little against Lake Elsinore starter Lake Bachar, who struck out just two over six innings but induced weak contact all night, including five pop-ups on the infield and four lazy fly-ball outs. Stockton collected just two hits, a third-inning single to left by designated hitter Eric Marinez and a line-drive single to center by third baseman Will Toffey to lead off the bottom of the fifth. Marinez was erased on a double play when he forgot the number of outs, and Toffey never advanced past first base.

Stockton shortstop Kevin Merrell did make solid contact twice out of the leadoff spot, lining out to first base in his first at-bat of the season and grounding out sharply to second base in the bottom of the sixth. Even with the hard-hit ball, Merrell showed off his tremendous speed, making a tight play at first on what would be a ho-hum play for almost any other runner.

Merrell and Toffey combined for a solid defensive night on the left side of the infield, with both making difficult charging plays on grounders despite the slick conditions. Toffey’s throwing error in the seventh did spur a two-run Lake Elsinore rally, but it was a solid defensive night for the pair overall.

Those two runs in the seventh were among the three charged to Brendan Butler, who relieved Luzardo. Butler allowed five hits in 1 1/3 innings of relief, and two of the runs on his ledger were earned.

Angel Duno, who struggled to the tune of a 5.40 ERA as a starter for Stockton in 2017, looked superb out of the bullpen, allowing just one walk and striking out five as he pitched three hitless innings to close things out for the Ports. He repeatedly mesmerized the Storm hitters with his breaking ball, getting exaggerated swings and misses from Lake Elsinore’s Buddy Reed, Jorge Ona, Ruddy Giron and Easley.

Ports catcher Jonah Heim put together a solid defensive performance behind the plate, handling both Luzardo’s and Duno’s breaking balls with ease. The A’s latest Cuban import, outfielder Dairon Blanco, took some circuitous routes in center field, but his athleticism, speed and quick swing were apparent. With some fine-tuning, the speedy outfielder could quickly turn into a major prospect in the A’s system.

The Ports managed to put together a ninth-inning rally when Lake Elsinore’s Dauris Valdez walked three batters to load the bases, but reliever David Bednar came on to get Ports first baseman Luke Persico to fly out to right field and finish off the two-hit shutout for the Storm in Stockton on Thursday night.

Be sure to check out our complete recap of all the opening night action in the A’s system here.

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