The Vallejo Admirals defeated the San Rafael Pacifics on the road Wednesday night in what may or may not be a preview of the team’s first-round playoff game this weekend.

Vallejo had a strong pitching outing from Amilcar Cruz, who went seven innings and gave up just six hits and one earned run while striking out seven.

Daniel Diaz got the save for Vallejo (36-42). Fernando Baez took the loss for San Rafael (50-28), which will finish the regular season in second place behind Sonoma. With Pittsburg losing to Martinez 5-2 on Wednesday, Vallejo tied the Diamonds for third place in the Pacific Association. The third-place team will visit the Pacifics and the fourth-place club will face the Stompers in a single-elimination semifinal round on Saturday. The semifinal winners play each other for the 2018 title on Sunday.

If Vallejo and Pittsburg finish with identical records, the Pacific Association tiebreaker procedure would appear to make the Diamonds the third-place finisher, although the league has yet to confirm.

Brandon Fisher helped give the Admirals an early lead on Wednesday with his ninth home run of the season in the second inning. Vallejo added two runs in the fifth to take a 4-1 lead and never looked back.

Graylin Derke had two hits, including a double, while Nick Akins Sr. and Nick Crouse also had hits. Vallejo only could muster five total hits in the win, but took advantage of nine walks by Pacifics pitchers.

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