Giants Offense Shut Down in 3-1 Loss
Published on May 19, 2013 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
SAN BERNARDINO - Four Inland Empire pitchers combined to limit the Giants to one run as the 66ers earned a 3-1 victory over San Jose on Sunday afternoon at San Manuel Stadium. The Giants suffered a second straight loss after beginning their season-long 11-game road trip with three consecutive wins.
Inland Empire starting pitcher Kramer Sneed (4-1) fired six scoreless innings with just five hits allowed to pick-up the win. Sneed walked two and struck out seven during his stint on the mound.
The 66ers jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third against San Jose starter Edwin Escobar. Zach Wright began the frame with a single before Matthew Scioscia lined the 12th pitch of his at-bat into the right field corner for an RBI triple. Joel Capote followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Scioscia with the second run of the inning.
Inland Empire added a run in the bottom of the fourth as Zach Borenstein led off with a single and scored two batters later when Brian Hernandez smacked a double off the fence in right.
Escobar (0-2) suffered the loss despite matching a season-high with six innings pitched. The left-hander surrendered three runs (all earned) on four hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Escobar began his start with two hitless innings before running into trouble in the third and fourth. He finished his outing by retiring the last eight 66ers batters he faced.
Meanwhile, the Giants were unable to muster any offense over the first seven innings of the contest. Sneed pitched around a leadoff single from Devin Harris and a two-out single off the bat of Elliott Blair in the top of the second. San Jose threatened in the fourth as Harris drew a leadoff walk before Blair again singled with two outs, but Eliezer Zambrano grounded out to end the inning. In the sixth, Mac Williamson singled with one out, but Sneed recorded back-to-back strikeouts of Angel Villalona and Blair to end his afternoon.
Los Angeles Angels relief pitcher Kevin Jepsen worked a scoreless top of the seventh as part of a rehabilitation assignment. Trailing 3-0, Zambrano reached on an error to begin the inning, but Bobby Haney grounded into a double play before Brock Bond bounced out.
The Giants finally broke through in the top of the eighth as Shawn Payne and Ryan Cavan delivered consecutive singles to start the inning against Eric Cendejas putting runners on the corners. Harris followed with a sacrifice fly to left plating Payne to cut the 66ers lead to 3-1. Cendejas though limited the damage in the inning by inducing Williamson to ground into a force play before Villalona struck out swinging.
Mike Morin then struck out the side in a perfect top of the ninth to seal the Inland Empire victory. Morin was credited with his sixth save of the year.
Notes: Sunday was the opener of a three-game series ... The Giants out-hit the 66ers by a 7-6 margin ... Blair (2-for-4) was the only San Jose player to finish with more than one hit ... Neither team recorded a hit with a runner in scoring position (Giants 0-for-3, Inland Empire 0-for-6) ... All seven San Jose hits were singles ... Jose Casilla (2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) was the only Giants reliever to appear in the game ... San Jose's overall record dropped to 28-15.
On Deck: The Giants and 66ers continue their three-game series on Monday evening with first pitch at San Manuel Stadium scheduled for 7:05 PM. Austin Fleet (3-1, 2.67 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Inland Empire is expected to counter with Dan Reynolds (4-3, 6.32 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM.
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