LIVINGSTON — Instead of relying on its normally solid pitching Sunday to silence the Livingston Xcoras, the Patterson Pirates men’s baseball team let its bats make the noise.  

Tripling the offensive output of their last game, the Pirates rode the strength of 17 hits and a nine-run fifth inning to a 21-9 win in Central Valley Mexican-American Baseball League action at Joe Alvernaz Field.

“Everybody was hitting the ball today and coming through,” Pirates coach Jose Garza said. “Our pitching was a little rough, but our hitting and defense made up for it.”

Some sloppy play marred the first two innings, leading up to a 2-2 tie, but the Pirates’ bats sprang to life in the third inning for a lead they would never relinquish. Ruben Cantu’s one-out, first-pitch home run over the left-field fence ignited the four-run offensive surge.

After Cantu’s homer, the Pirates added three more runs that culminated in an RBI double from Cuco Ruiz, good for a 6-2 lead after three innings.

“I just want to go out there, produce and do what I can to help the team win,” said Ruiz, who was 2-for-2 on the day. “If we play like this, we should be doing good in the playoffs. Our hitting is looking good.”

Starting pitcher David Castro lasted into the third inning. Despite a surplus of walks and wild pitches, he still held onto a 6-3 lead in 22/3 innings pitched.

His successor, Jimmy Perez, averted a potential jam when he induced an inning-ending, bases-loaded groundout in the bottom of the third to preserve the lead.

In the pivotal fifth inning, the Pirates built that lead to insurmountable heights. Wency Rios and Tino Martinez produced RBI singles. A misplayed fly ball to right field led to two more runs, and four batters later, Rios belted a two-run single to highlight the nine-run burst.

Livingston clawed back to 15-9, but relief pitcher Rudy Lozano retired the final six Livingston batters of the game, which reached the maximum time allotment of three hours.  

Patterson put away the game with five hits in the seventh, including a bases-clearing double from Lizandro Barragan to round out the scoring.

“Our bats are just waking up,” Garza said. “They have been kind of dead for the past month. We’ll be working on staying focused.”

Patterson will wrap up the regular season when it hosts the Livingston Coras, the team from which the Livingston Xcoras split, at 10 a.m. Sunday. Playoffs are set to start Aug. 19 or 26.

To reach Play Editor Mike Vanden Bosch at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at mike@pattersonirrigator.com.