MODESTO, CA (September 12th, 2012) -- Modesto raced out to an early 6-0 lead and cruised to a 6-2 win over the Blaze on Wednesday night at John Thurman Field to clinch a spot in the California League Championship Series.

After dropping the first two games of the North Division Finals in Bakersfield, Modesto returned home and won three in a row to capture their first division title since becoming a Rockies' affiliate in 2005. The Nuts will play the Lancaster Jethawks in the best-of-five California League Championship Series, which starts tomorrow night at John Thurman Field.

Modesto opened up with a furious first inning rally, with six consecutive batters reaching base to begin the game. James Allen (0-1), who was making his Cal League debut for the Blaze, lasted only 11 pitches. He gave up a quick single to Joey Wong, with Rafael Ortega following with a double. After a walk by Dallas Tarleton loaded the bases, Jared Clark also drew a free pass to bring in the game's first run. Blaze Manager Ken Griffey Sr. quickly went to his bullpen, calling in Brooks Pinckard to clean up the mess.

Tim Smalling fell behind Pinckard 0-2 before working the count full, and fouling off several pitches to put together a tough at-bat. On the 10th pitch, Smalling ripped a double to the right-field fence to plate two runs, putting the Nuts ahead 3-0. Juan Crousset followed with an RBI single, and Delta Cleary Jr. grounded into a double play to cap the inning at five runs.

Cristhian Adames opened the second with a single, advanced to second and third on wild-pitches, and came around to score on a sac-fly by Tarleton to put the Nuts in front 6-0.

That was plenty of support for Tyler Matzek (2-0), who sent down nine of the first ten batters of the game, including four via strikeout. The left-hander allowed only one earned run in 5 2/3 innings of work to notch his second win of the post-season. He was also on the mound for Modesto's decisive Game 3 win over the Giants in the Mini-Series.

Matzek ran into trouble in the fifth, but limited the damage to only one run. After loading the bases with a single and a pair of walks, Matzek got Kurtis Muller to groundout which brought home Bakersfield's first run. With two in scoring position and two outs, Matzek struck out Steve Selsky to end the threat.

After retiring the first two batters of the sixth, Matzek issued a walk to Dominic D'Anna which ended his night. Geoff Parker entered in relief and induced a groundout on the first pitch to get out of the inning. Parker was then worked around a hit-batter and an error in the seventh, getting Muller to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Kurt Yacko entered in the eighth and gave up a solo home run to Travis Mattair, but worked through the rest of the inning with no damage. Adam Jorgenson tossed a scoreless ninth to nail down his third save of the postseason.

Modesto's last championship appearance came in 2004 during their final season of affiliation with the Oakland Athletics. They beat Lancaster in five games to capture the title. The two team's will rematch starting on Thursday night, with Modesto hosting Games 1 and 2. Lancaster will host Game 3, and Games 4 and 5 (if necessary) at The Hangar.

RHP Kennil Gomez (4-5, 5.97) will start in Game 1 for Modesto, opposite RHP David Martinez (9-5, 4.38) for the Jethawks. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. Tickets are available and can be purchased by calling (209) 572-HITS or online at ModestoNuts.com.