The Milkman Delivers Seven Scoreless in 15-1 Triumph
Noah Millikan Dominates Boise, Strikes Out 12
By Nevada Cullen
OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Milkman always delivers.
In Friday's 15-1 thrashing of the Boise Hawks, Noah Millikan hurled a gem for the Ballers. The Oakland righty fired seven shutout frames to improve his record to 5-1 and lower his ERA to 2.47, which leads all starting pitchers in the Pioneer League.
At first, Millikan was fine. He scattered three hits, including a pair of doubles, over his first three innings of work and kept the Hawks off of the board.
But, midway through the third, Millikan turned it on. Of the final 15 hitters he faced, Millikan allowed just one to reach base, induced three groundouts and punched out the other 11.
He went supernova every so often, striking out six straight batters at one point and four in a row to end his evening. Millikan's final line was a thing of beauty: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 12 K.
Even though he didn't need much help, the Oakland offense gave Millikan ample run support. The Ballers scored four runs in the second and seventh innings and three runs in the fourth and sixth frames.
Davis Drewek led the charge with three extra-base hits on the night. First, he clubbed an opposite-field, two-run homer to left in the second to hand the Ballers a 4-0 advantage.
Next, Drewek powered a solo jack to straightaway center field in the fourth, a 391-foot blast that left the bat at 106 mph. Finally, he shot a two-out double to left in the fifth, and Tremayne Cobb Jr. plated Drewek with an RBI knock.
At long last, Jake Allgeyer notched his first Oakland homer. In the sixth, the switch-hitting Allgeyer stood in from the left side and walloped a two-run tater into the right-field bullpen, part of a 3-RBI night for him.
Christian Almanza extended his franchise record totals to 28 home runs and 94 RBI in the victory. Esai Santos matched his career high in hits with four, including a double.
Adam Bogosian pitched the eighth and ninth, allowed just one unearned run and fanned four Hawks. In all, Millikan and Bogosian combined for 16 strikeouts against one of the best offenses in the PBL.
First pitch for game five against the Hawks is set for 4:35 p.m. PDT Saturday. As always, you can listen to the action on 860 AM The Answer and on the Oakland Ballers YouTube channel.
