Bakersfield's Joey Butler delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Blaze completed a sweep of the San Jose Giants with a 2-1 victory on Thursday evening at Sam Lynn Ballpark. Starting pitcher Ryan Tatusko worked 7 2/3 effective innings with just one run allowed to earn the win as the Giants suffered their second consecutive one-run loss in the series. The defeat drops San Jose's second half record to 32-15.
Tatusko (5-6) limited the Giants to six hits with two walks and three strikeouts during his stint on the mound. Tatusko induced 16 ground ball outs, including three double plays to end innings. Justin Miller was credited with his first save after picking-up the last four outs and not allowing a run.
With the score tied 1-1, David Paisano began the bottom of the seventh with a double to the fence in right field off of San Jose reliever Daniel Turpen. Elio Sarmiento followed with a line drive single into left to move the potential go-ahead run to third. Turpen recovered to strikeout Jonathan Greene and then retired Mauro Gomez on a line out to shallow center, but Butler was up next and he lined a single into center for the clutch two-out hit as Paisano scored to put Bakersfield in front.
Turpen (3-2) was saddled with the loss after yielding one run on three hits over 1 1/3 innings of relief.
In the top of the eighth, Tatusko, who was pitching with the lead for the first time in the contest, quickly retired the first two batters. Miller was then summoned from the bullpen and after allowing a single to Thomas Neal, struck out Roger Kieschnick looking to end the inning.
Miller returned to the mound in the ninth and promptly issued a leadoff walk to David Maroul. Shane Jordan was then put in to pinch-run as Conor Gillaspie attempted a sacrifice bunt. However, the bunt was popped up and caught by third baseman Jacob Kaase who quickly fired to first to double off Jordan. The play was argued by the Giants and resulted in the ejections of manager Andy Skeels and hitting coach Gary Davenport by base umpire Tom Honec. Miller then quickly retired Ryan Lormand on a line out to second ending the game.
Kyle Nicholson started on the mound for San Jose and scattered seven hits and allowed just one run over 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander walked two and struck out four.
Nicholson pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the first while Davis Stoneburner was thrown out at the plate to end the fourth attempting to score on Kaase's double to deep right field. Matthew Lawson finally got Bakersfield on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to left.
The Giants scored their only run of the night in the top of the first inning when Darren Ford led off by getting hit by a pitch, stole second, advanced to third on Nick Noonan's sacrifice bunt and then came home on Neal's ground out to second.
Neal (2-for-4, RBI) was the lone San Jose player to finish with a multi-hit game. Bakersfield out-hit the Giants by an 11-6 margin. The Blaze stranded 13 runners on base while San Jose was 0-for-5 batting with runners in scoring position.
Notes: The Giants were swept in a series for only the second time this year (July 28-30 at Stockton) ... San Jose lost the three games by a total of only four runs ... Thursday's defeat marked the Giants' fifth consecutive one-run loss ... San Jose is only 9-14 in one-run games this season ... Wilmin Rodriguez (1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO), who relieved Turpen after Butler's hit in the seventh, Rafael Cova (2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 SO) and David Mixon (1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) all pitched out of the Giants bullpen ... San Jose maintained a three-game lead over the Stockton Ports (29-18) for the top spot in the second half North Division race.
On Deck: The Giants return home on Friday evening to begin a three-game series against the Stockton Ports at Municipal Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Oliver Odle (7-9, 5.34 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Stockton is expected to counter with Carlos Hernandez (9-5, 4.15 ERA). It's a third annual A Giant Luau at the ballpark and tickets can be purchased by calling (408)297-1435 or by visiting www.sjgiants.com. The evening will be full of Hawaiian festivities ranging from hula dancers and island music to Hawaiian cuisine and a special pig roasting ceremony in Turkey Mike's BBQ. In addition, the team will be wearing special Hawaiian themed jerseys that will be auctioned off during the game. The game will also be televised live on Comcast Hometown Network, Channel 104 throughout most Northern California regions.
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