Giants Season Ends with Game 3 Shutout Loss
September 20, 2015 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
SAN JOSE, CA - The San Jose Giants saw their 2015 season come to an end on Saturday night with a 5-0 Game 3 loss to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at Municipal Stadium. Rancho Cucamonga swept the best-of-five Championship Series three-games-to-none and earned their first California League title since 1994.
The North Division champion Giants outlasted Stockton in the Mini Series, knocked off Visalia in an epic five-game Division Series before coming up short against the Quakes.
Rancho Cucamonga starter Trevor Oaks (1-0) tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings to pick-up the win in Saturday's Game 3. Quakes clean-up hitter Cody Bellinger led the offensive attack with a pair of doubles and a key two-run home run in the top of the eighth that pushed the Rancho Cucamonga lead to 4-0.
Brandon Bednar (2-for-4) and Steven Duggar (2-for-4) were the top San Jose offensive performers in defeat with two singles each.
Game 3 was scoreless through four innings as Giants starter Christian Jones retired the first 12 Quakes hitters of the contest. Jones struck out the side in the top of the first, registered one punchout in the second, fanned two more in the third inning and then struck out another Rancho Cucamonga batter in the top of the fourth.
San Jose had opportunities early against Oaks, but stranded six runners on base over the first four frames. In the bottom of the first, Bednar singled with one out before an Angel Villalona two-out single put runners on the corners. However, Oaks induced Brian Ragira to groundout ending the threat.
In the bottom of the second, Duggar and Seth Harrison produced singles to put runners on first and third with two down, but a strikeout of Chuckie Jones retired the side. Then in the fourth, Ragira led off with a single before Duggar singled with one out. A two-out wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, however Harrison then popped out to keep the game scoreless.
The Quakes then broke through against Jones in the top of the fifth. Bellinger led off with a double to deep right center and immediately scored when Alex Verdugo produced a double of his own. Following a walk to Tyler Ogle, Jones struck out Paul Hoenecke for the first out of the inning. Dan Slania was then summoned from the bullpen, but he walked Joey Curletta to load the bases. Slania though prevented further damage in the inning as he struck out Spencer Navin and retired Tim Locastro on a pop out to first.
After the Giants went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fifth, the Bellinger-Verdugo duo combined on another run in the sixth. After Slania (1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) quickly set down the first two batters, Bellinger smacked a double off the top of the wall in straightaway center. Verdugo then singled sharply through the hole on the right side to plate Bellinger for a 2-0 advantage.
Oaks maintained the two-run lead with perfect bottom of the sixth and seventh innings combining for just 16 pitches during the two frames. Bellinger then extended the Rancho Cucamonga lead with a towering two-run home run in the top of the eighth. Facing reliever Ian Gardeck (1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO), Willie Calhoun led off by drawing a walk. After a strikeout of Jacob Scavuzzo, Bellinger stepped to the plate and drove a fly ball over the fence in right for a home run. The homer, Bellinger's third of the postseason, made the score 4-0.
The Giants threatened in the bottom of the eighth, but again came away empty-handed. With one out, Bednar blooped a single into shallow right snapping a string of 12 straight hitters retired by Oaks. Christian Arroyo followed with a single into left advancing Bednar to second. However new pitcher Kyle Hooper, with the potential tying run in the on-deck circle, induced Villalona to line out to shortstop with Bednar doubled off at second on the play to end the inning.
The Quakes completed the scoring for the night with a run in the top of the ninth against Jake Smith (1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO). Navin struck out to start the inning, but reached base safely when the pitched bounced away from catcher Ty Ross. Locastro flied out to deep left with Navin moving to second on the play and then with two down, Scavuzzo produced an RBI double for a 5-0 cushion.
In the bottom of the ninth, Jonah Arenado walked with one out against Hooper. Michael Johnson was then summoned from the Quakes bullpen and he notched consecutive swinging strikeouts of Duggar and Ross to end the game and spark Rancho Cucamonga's championship celebration.
Jones (0-1) suffered the loss for San Jose despite allowing just one run and two hits over 4 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out eight and walked only one during his 74-pitch outing.
Notes:
* Rancho Cucamonga outscored the Giants by a 21-6 margin during the Championship Series.
* San Jose has been swept in their last two Championship Series appearances (2013 by Inland Empire). The Giants last won a league title in 2010 (over Rancho Cucamonga).
* During the series, Quakes starting pitchers (Chase De Jong, Scott Barlow and Oaks) combined to throw 20 1/3 innings with just three runs allowed (1.33 ERA).
* San Jose out-hit Rancho Cucamonga 8-7 in Game 3.
* The Giants were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position on Saturday and left eight on base.
* Bellinger (3-for-5, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI) and Verdugo (3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) combined for six hits in nine at-bats from the fourth and fifth spots in the batting order. The other seven Quakes hitters were a combined 1-for-26.
* San Jose pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts in the loss.
* The Giants hit just .214 during the Championship Series. Villalona (4-for-11) led the club with a .364 batting average.
* San Jose lost a home game for the first time since August 22 (had won seven straight at Municipal Stadium going back to the regular season).
On Deck: The Giants open the 2016 season on Thursday, April 7. The team will be releasing next year's schedule in the coming weeks. Visit sjgiants.com then for information on ticket packages for the 2016 season.
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California League Stories from September 20, 2015
- Quakes Are Champions - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Giants Season Ends with Game 3 Shutout Loss - San Jose Giants
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