Sports Briefs: Pacifics set to host Marysville in Pecos League playoff opener
The San Rafael Pacifics are limping into the postseason after dropping the final two games of the regular season. San Rafael surrendered eight runs in the first two innings Saturday and never recovered during a 14-7 loss to the Vallejo Seaweed at Albert Park. The Pacifics then closed out the regular season Sunday with a 17-2 loss at Martinez, wasting a two-run homer from John Bicos I the first inning.
Second-place San Rafael (31-23) hosts third-place Marysville (29-24) in a best-of-three game Pecos League Pacific Division playoff series beginning Monday. Game two is scheduled for Tuesday, with a third game on Wednesday, if necessary. All three games are scheduled to played at Albert Park with a 6 p.m. start time.
San Rafael has lost eight of its last 11 games. But the Pacifics were still in a battle for the top seed, just a half-game behind Bakersfield entering the weekend, until they were knocked out of contention by Saturday’s loss to Vallejo. Bakersfield will host fourth-place Vallejo (24-28) in the other playoff series.
Motor sports
SONOMA – Top Fuel’s Antron Brown defeated first-time finalist Tony Stewart in the final round of the 36th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals, picking up his third win of the 2024 season on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.
Bob Tasca III (Funny Car), Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won the 12th of 20 races during the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season.
Stewart left first with a slight advantage on the starting line, but Brown quickly tracked him down, going 3.746-seconds at 329.67 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools/Toyota dragster to earn his 77th career victory.
Novato’s Dave Cook edged Benicia’s Jeff Gillette in the finals of the Top Sportsman competition, pitting Cook’s Mustang (6.678 seconds, 207.94 mph) against Gillette’s GTO (6.804, 196.33). Other sportsman winners were Josh Lee (Comp Eliminator), Jim Grossi Jr. (Super Stock), Paul Calvert (Stock Eliminator), Allison McKoane (Super Comp), Ryan Giacone (Super Gas) and Thomas Bayer (Top Dragster).