The Victoria Seals melted under the sweltering heat in the Arizona desert.
After opening the series Friday with a 9-4 victory against the Yuma Scorpions, the Seals blew a 6-2 lead and lost 7-6 last night at Desert Sun Stadium where the temperature at game time was 45 C.
The Seals took a 3-0 lead in the second inning as first baseman Brett Flowers singled, followed by a two-run homer by Terry Mermer, his sixth of the season in only 17 games with Victoria.
Then after a single by second baseman Wilver Perez, right fielder Sergio Pedroza delivered a two-out triple to score Perez.
The Scorpions came back with two runs in the third inning after Victoria's starting pitcher Eduardo Baeza loaded the bases and Ismael Castro stroked a two-run single.
Victoria added another three runs in the sixth inning as Billy Krause had an RBI single and two more Seals scored after a Yuma throwing error on a ground ball by Perez.
But then in the seventh inning, the Seals had the meltdown, allowing five runs, aided by a Mermer error at third base.
Left fielder Jamar Hill from Victoria, who leads the league with 14 home runs, was injured in the seventh inning while batting.
He was replaced by Gabriel Riley.
In the eighth inning, Victoria's Petie Montero was gunned down at home plate on a controversial call and Seals' manager Darrell Evans was ejected from the game for arguing the call.
The Seals now have a 7-11 second-half record in the North Division while Yuma is 7-13. Victoria's overall mark is 24-35 while the Scorpions were 17-40.
The Seals complete the three-game series against Yuma tonight before heading to Utah and a three-game set against the St. George Roadrunners.
Victoria returns to Royal Athletic Park on Friday to start a three-game series against the Chico Outlaws. The starting time is 7 p.m.
