Giants Drop 14-12 Slugfest to Ports
Published on August 9, 2012 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
STOCKTON - Stockton's Tony Thompson hit a two-out, two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Ports to a 14-12 victory over the San Jose Giants on Wednesday evening at Banner Island Ballpark. The wild back-and-forth contest saw the two teams combine for 26 runs, 30 hits and five homers. The loss snapped San Jose's four-game win streak while their overall record fell to 60-55.
Adam Duvall (2-for-5, HR, 4 RBI) hit his 26th home run of the year to tie the San Jose Giants single-season record in the defeat. Duvall has now homered in five straight games. Joe Panik (4-for-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) also hit a home run as part of a perfect night at the plate. The Giants were unable to hold leads of 4-0 and 10-7, but did score in double figures for the fifth consecutive game.
With the game tied 12-12, Stockton's Dusty Robinson began the ninth- inning rally by reaching on a one-out infield single to third base. Robinson advanced to second on the play when Duvall threw wildly to first for an error. San Jose reliever Shawn Sanford recovered to strikeout the next hitter, Michael Gilmartin, but then Thompson stepped to the plate and crushed a 1-0 pitch over the fence in left for the game-winning homer. The home run was Thompson's second of night.
Sanford (5-8), who entered the game to begin the bottom of the eighth, suffered the loss for the Giants. He was charged with two runs on two hits in 1 2/3 innings of work.
San Jose quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead with three runs in the top of the first inning. With one out, Panik clubbed a double to the fence in right field before Duvall delivered an RBI single to center. Duvall moved to second on the throw home and took third on Ricky Oropesa's infield single. Then with Alex Burg at the plate, a wild pitch allowed Duvall to score the second run of the frame. Burg later ripped a double down the left field line to plate Oropesa for a 3-0 advantage.
The Giants extended their lead to 4-0 in the top of the third when Panik launched a solo homer to deep right. The home run was Panik's seventh of the season.
Justin Schumer started on the mound for San Jose and held the Ports off the scoreboard over the first two innings before struggling in the bottom of the third. Three consecutive singles from Yordy Cabrera, Chad Oberacker and Myrio Richard loaded the bases with none out before B.A. Vollmuth came through with an RBI single to make it 4-1. Max Stassi followed with the fifth straight single to start the inning as two more runs scored. Then after A.J. Kirby-Jones struck out, Robinson grounded out to shortstop plating Vollmuth with the tying run. Gilmartin followed by drawing a walk and then Thompson belted a three-run homer to right giving Stockton a 7-4 lead.
The Ports scored seven runs on six hits in the bottom of the third. Schumer surrendered seven runs (all earned) on seven hits in his three innings on the mound.
San Jose though immediately reclaimed the lead with four runs in the top of the fourth. Andrew Susac led off with a single before Carter Jurica drew a two-out walk. Panik then lined an RBI single to left cutting the deficit to 7-5. Duvall followed with a towering three-run home run to deep left field putting the Giants in front at 8-7.
In the top of the fifth, back-to-back two-out doubles from Susac and Page produced another San Jose run. After Skyler Stromsmoe reached on a bunt single to continue the inning, a wild pitch brought home Page for a 10-7 advantage.
Stephen Harrold (1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) relieved Schumer to start the bottom of the fourth and worked a perfect inning. However in the fifth, a leadoff walk to Stassi and a one-out double from Robinson put runners on second and third with one out against Harrold. Gilmartin then scored Stassi with a groundout before Thompson's single plated Robinson to bring the Ports to within 10-9. Craig Whitaker (1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) was then summoned from the bullpen, but he promptly allowed a game-tying RBI triple to Cabrera before Oberacker stepped to the plate and hammered a two-run homer to right for a 12-10 Stockton lead.
The seesaw battle continued in the top of the seventh as the Giants pushed across two more runs to again tie the game. Jarrett Parker led off with a single and then scored on Page's one-out triple into the right field corner. Stromsmoe followed with a double into the right center field gap to plate Page tying the game 12-12. Stromsmoe though was stranded at second as Jurica grounded out and after Panik walked, Duvall also grounded out to end the inning.
Phil McCormick (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) worked around a two-out double in the bottom of the seventh to keep the game tied and then both teams went down 1-2-3 in the eighth inning. San Jose threatened in the top of the ninth as Stromsmoe reached on an infield single with two outs and advanced to second on a wild pitch, however Jurica flied out to center to retire the side.
Stockton reliever A.J. Huttenlocker (2-1) was credited with the win after tossing two scoreless innings over the eighth and ninth frames. He allowed one hit, walked none and struck out one.
Stromsmoe (3-for-5, 2B, RBI), Page (2-for-5, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI) and Susac (2-for-5, 2B) also finished with more than one hit for the Giants. San Jose out-hit the Ports by a 16-14 margin.
Notes: The teams have split the first two games of the series while the Giants are 4-1 on their current road trip ... Duvall tied the Giants home run record held by Tim Flaherty (26 homers in 2001) ... Duvall has hit six home runs in his last five games and 10 homers over his last 13 ... Panik is 8-for-9 with a double, two home runs and five RBI's in the first two games of the series ... Panik also extended his hitting streak to 14 games - the longest by a San Jose player this season ... Duvall's hit streak is now 13 games while Jurica's (0-for-5, BB) hit streak ended at 11 ... The Giants were 8-for-14 with runners in scoring position while Stockton was 7-for-15 ... San Jose has scored 55 runs over their last five games ... Pitcher Cody Hall (3-0, 1.60 ERA, 20 SV) was added to the Giants roster from Augusta (A) before the game ... Outfielder Brennan Metzger was transferred to Salem-Keizer (Short- Season).
On Deck: The Giants and Ports will play the rubber game of their three- game series on Thursday evening with first pitch at Banner Island Ballpark scheduled for 7:05 PM. Taylor Rogers (8-10, 4.78 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Stockton is expected to counter with Josh Bowman (4-9, 3.55 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM.
California League Stories from August 9, 2012
- Quakes Finish Road Trip at 3-3 - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- All-Star Third Baseman Pablo Sandoval to Join San Jose Giants - San Jose Giants
- San Jose Giants Action Packed Homestand Preview: August 10-August 16 - San Jose Giants
- Giants Drop 14-12 Slugfest to Ports - San Jose Giants
- Late Homer Sinks Lancaster - Lancaster JetHawks
- 66ers Can't Storm Back - Inland Empire 66ers
- Nuts Score Walk-Off Win over Quakes on Wednesday - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Crabbe Loses No-Hit Bid in 7th, Blaze Hang on 5-4 - Bakersfield Blaze
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
