High Point tops Staten Island behind Sako's 10-strikeout gem, three homers

Yuhi Sako took Staten Island out early and High Point never let go, riding eight innings of two-hit, no-walk baseball and three home runs to a 9-2 win over the FerryHawks at SIUH Community Park. The Rockers’ season-best fifth straight victory pushed them to 5-4 in the second half and 34-38 overall.

Sako was clean through four innings before Brandon Wagner doubled to lead off the fifth and spoil the perfect-game bid. Even then, the right-hander never cracked. He struck out 10 for a new career high as a Rocker, worked around the only real traffic he allowed, and finished with his best stretch of the summer, giving up seven runs and three walks over his last five starts in 34 innings.

High Point gave him a cushion immediately. Ryan McCarthy reached on a dropped fly ball to start the game, Ivan Melendez followed with a two-run homer, and the Rockers were on the board before Staten Island had settled in. In the fourth, Melendez singled and scored ahead of Nick Longhi’s two-run shot, stretching the lead to 4-0. Luke Napleton added his 17th home run of the season in the sixth to make it 5-0.

The late blow came in the eighth, when Nolan Watson delivered an RBI single, Aidan Brewer doubled home a run, and McCarthy capped the burst with a two-run double that pushed the lead to 9-0. Staten Island finally scored in the ninth when Anthony Abbatine doubled and Blake Rutherford followed with a two-run homer off Dalton Hitt.

Melendez finished with his ninth homer of the year, Longhi went deep for the 12th time. The Rockers entered the series at 29-38 and 0-4 in the second half after a four-game skid, then won back-to-back games and left Staten Island. Ben Wereski’s contract purchase by the Cincinnati Reds on July 3 was followed by six hitless innings in his Chattanooga debut on July 9.