Freebirds cage Chukars, who lose ground in playoff race with defeat

IDAHO FALLS — Tuesday’s 14-9 loss to the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds ended what had been a Chukars’ six-game winning streak. With it, Idaho Falls also lost ground on all four of its direct competitors for the final playoff spot.

The Chukars (22-15, 37-48) are now tied with the Boise Hawks (22-15, 45-40) and Long Beach Coast (22-15, 59-26), both of whom won Tuesday, for fourth place. Idaho Falls trails the Billings Mustangs (24-13, 60-24), winners of 10 straight, and Missoula PaddleHeads (26-11, 50-34), who currently hold the Pioneer Baseball League’s second-half second-place position for the final playoff spot.

Starter Ray Hernandez accomplished his main directive, pitching into the sixth inning while giving his offense a fighting chance.

Hernandez (L, 3-1, 9.21 ERA) lasted 5-1/3, surrendering nine hits and seven runs, six earned. Five of those runs scored in the sixth inning — three after Hernandez departed, giving way to Josh Leerssen, who pitched around a pair of errors.

Through six innings, the Chukars trailed 8-3. Yuba-Sutter (14-23, 29-56) pushed four more runs across the plate before the Idaho Falls offense began to chip away at the deficit.

Despite the loss, right fielder Sam Canton and center fielder Tyler Wyatt added to their historic runs.

With a single in three at-bats, Wyatt extended his PBL-record hitting streak to 40 games.

The last time Idaho Falls’ franchise player was held hitless was on July 4, when he went 0-for-4 in a 5-4 victory over the Missoula PaddleHeads. Since then, he has tallied 76 hits in 183 at-bats for a .415 average.

Canton, who set a Chukars franchise single-season record for his (146) on Sunday, went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and one RBI in defeat Tuesday. He now owns single-season franchise records in hits (148), home runs (29), RBIs (137) and runs scored (123).

Behind Canton, Wyatt and first baseman Justin Trimble, who picked up four hits, including a homer, and four RBIs, tried to claw back but ran out of time.

Now 4 games behind Missoula for a playoff spot with 11 games left in the regular season, the Chukars have yet to be eliminated but cannot afford any more misteps.

They will be back at home Wednesday night, facing the same Freebirds with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p..m.

PBL second-half standings

1. Modesto Roadsters 29-8
2. Missoula PaddleHeads 26-11
3. Billings Mustangs 24-13
T4. Boise Hawks 22-15
T4. Idaho Falls Chukars 22-15
T4. Long Beach Coast 22-15
7. Oakland Ballers 19-18
8. Ogden Raptors 16-21
9. Glacier Range Riders 15-22
10. Yuba-Sutter Freebirds 14-23
11. Great Falls Voyagers 12-25
12. RedPocket Mobiles 1-36