ORONO – Another solid starting pitching effort just wasn’t enough as the Berkshire Black Bears handed Bangor its third straight loss on a nippy night for baseball.

First baseman Ryan Jones hit three singles with three RBIs to lead the Bears to a 5-4 Northeast League victory at the University of Maine’s Mahaney Diamond Wednesday.

An unearned run in the ninth was the difference as Berkshire improved to 12-14 after losing its first nine of the season. Bangor drops to 8-14.

The Bears did it all with two outs in the ninth as Kevin Forbes reached on a throwing error by shortstop Mitsuru Kobayashi, moved to second after Pete Paciorek was hit by a pitch, and scored on Jones’ RBI single down the left-field line.

“We’re usually late starters, so that puts us in situations where we have to come back most of the time. I guess we’re getting used to it,” said Jones, whose Bears have come from behind to win their last three.

The loss eclipsed a great effort from lefthanded starter Danny Miller, who not only pitched five days after being beaned in the face by a line drive, but allowed just five hits and two walks while ringing up 10 strikeouts in six innings.

“I walked the first guy in the game, and then I was like, ‘All right, settle down pitch.’ I just had to get over it,” said Miller, whose peripheral vision was still blurry out of a left eye that was still a dark red. “There was a broken bat single that kind of freaked me out, but after that first batter, all that worry or fear or whatever went away.”

It was the sixth straight quality start by a Bangor pitcher, but the ‘Jacks are 2-4 in that span.

“Our starters are doing a good job, and as frustrating as it is for me, I’m sure it’s even more frustrating for them,” said Bangor manager Kash Beauchamp. “We need a closer. Somebody’s got to take the role by the horns and maybe when [starter Jeff] Sparks comes back from injury, we can solidify our bullpen by using Pinky [Kevin Pincavitch] to close.”

Bangor scored first in the second. After Lorenzo de la Cruz led off with a single to right, he moved to second on a passed ball and, one out later, advanced on a flyout. Another passed ball by Larned on a third strike to Hargreaves allowed Hargreaves to reach base safely and de la Cruz to score.

Berkshire took its first lead with two runs in the sixth. Back-to-back, one-out singles by P.J. Johnston and Forbes started things off. A fielder’s choice grounder up the middle was gloved by Miller, but after looking the runner back at third, he threw wild to second and Johnston scored while Forbes moved to third. A Jones sacrifice fly scored Forbes.

The Black Bears tacked on another run in the eighth. Forbes was hit by a pitch, stole second, moved to third on Jones’ single, and scored on a bases-loaded walk to Shane Hopper.

Bangor got two runs back in the eighth after Todd Brock and Donnie Ross drew walks. Ross’ single to right scored Brock, but a 6-4-3 double play rubbed him and Juan Silvestre out.

BLACK BEARS 5, LUMBERJACKS 4

Berkshire (12-14) Bangor (8-14)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Johnston, 2b 4 1 1 0 Kobayashi, ss 5 1 0

Forbes, rf 4 3 1 0 Brock, 3b 4 1 0

Paciorek, dh 3 0 0 1 Ross, 1b 4 1 1

Jones, 1b 4 0 3 2 a-Tindell 0 0 0

Hopper, cf 4 0 0 1 de la Cruz, dh 5 1 1

Crespo, lf 4 1 1 0 Silvestre, lf 4 0 0

Williams, 3b 3 0 1 0 Blakeney, cf 4 0 1

Cruz, ss 4 0 1 1 King, rf 2 0 0

Larned, c 4 0 0 0 Hargreaves, c 4 0 0

Miura, 2b 3 0 0 0

Voltz, 2b 1 0 0 0

Totals 34 5 8 5 Totals 36 4 10 3

a-ran for Ross in the 9th

Berkshire 000 002 000 ? 5

Bangor 010 000 021 ? 4

E?Cruz, Larned; Kobayashi 2, Miller; LOB?Berkshire 9, Bangor 9; 2B?Crespo; Kobayashi, Ross; DP?Cruz-Johnston-Jones; Miller-Hargreaves-Brock; SF?Jones; SB?Johnston 2, Forbes; Kobayashi, Blakeney

Berkshire IP H R ER BB SO

Guttormson (W,2-3) 7 6 3 2 3 7

Aucoin 1 2 0 0 1 1

Smith (S,2) 1 2 1 1 0 1

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Miller (L,1-3) 6 5 3 2 2 10

Kalinowski 1 1 0 0 0 0

Debold 0 1 1 1 1 0

Gouin 1 0 0 0 1 0

Henry 1 1 1 0 0 1

Guttormson faced two batters in 8th; Miller faced two batters in 7th; Debold faced three batters in 8th

HBP?Forbes by Debold, Paciorek by Henry; WP?Henry; PB?Larned; T?3:11; ATT?759