Giants Shutout in Second Half Opener
June 24, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
STOCKTON, CA - The Stockton Ports used a five-run bottom of the fourth inning and stellar pitching to post a 5-0 victory over the San Jose Giants on Thursday evening at Banner Island Ballpark. Four Ports hurlers combined on a six-hitter as the Giants (39-31) suffered the shutout loss in their second half opener. The defeat was San Jose's first in 11 games this season against Stockton.
Ports starter Kyle Friedrichs (3-1) pitched the first six innings to earn the win. Friedrichs surrendered five hits, walked none and struck out eight during his outing. Relievers Cody Stull, Lou Trivino and Carlos Navas then each threw a scoreless inning out of the bullpen to preserve the shutout.
Steven Duggar (2-for-4) was the only Giants player to finish the contest with more than one hit.
D.J. Snelten started on the mound for San Jose and began his night with three hitless innings. Snelten worked around a two-out walk in the bottom of the first and an error leading off the second to keep the Ports off the scoreboard. Snelten had retired six straight Stockton hitters, including three via the strikeout, before running into trouble in the bottom of the fourth. An infield single from B.J. Boyd started the decisive fourth-inning rally before Joe Bennie grounded a single into right. James Harris then reached on a bunt single to load the bases with none out. Snelten came back to strikeout Sandber Pimentel for the first out of the inning, but then Lolana Akau lined an RBI single into right to give the Ports a 1-0 lead. Mikey White was up next and he grounded a single through the hole on the left side to plate two more runs for a 3-0 advantage. After Melvin Mercedes struck out and Seth Brown walked to load the bases again, Richie Martin bounced a single through the left side to bring home Akau and White to make it 5-0.
Snelten (3-6) was tagged for five runs (all earned) on six hits over four innings to take the loss. The left-hander, who threw 33 out of his 77 pitches in the bottom of the fourth, walked two and struck out six.
Meanwhile, Friedrichs cruised through his entire outing. The Giants' only two hits over the first four frames against the Stockton starter was a one-out single from Duggar in the first and a two-out double off the bat of Ronnie Jebavy in the top of the third. After the Ports took the lead, Ty Ross and Robbie Garvey delivered back-to-back two-out singles in the fifth, but both were stranded when Jebavy struck out to end the inning. In the top of the sixth, Duggar led off with a single, but was promptly erased when C.J Hinojosa grounded into a double play.
Stull pitched the seventh inning for the Ports and worked around a two-out single from Brandon Bednar to maintain the 5-0 lead. In the eighth, Garvey walked to leadoff and Hinojosa drew a two-out walk, but Chris Shaw lined out to left to end the inning. Navas then breezed through a 1-2-3 ninth inning to finish the game.
Jeff Soptic (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO) and Dusten Knight (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO) combined for four scoreless innings of relief with just one hit allowed and six strikeouts for San Jose.
Notes:
* Stockton out-hit San Jose 7-6. Six of the Ports' seven hits came in the bottom of the fourth.
* Jonah Arenado's (0-for-4) hitting streak was snapped at 11 games. It matched the longest hit streak by a Giants player this season (Jebavy).
* San Jose was shutout for the sixth time this year and first since May 28 (at Modesto).
* The Giants were 7-0 at Banner Island Ballpark this season prior to Thursday's loss.
On Deck: The Giants and Ports continue their four-game series on Friday evening with first pitch at Banner Island Ballpark scheduled for 7:10 PM. Mark Reyes (6-1, 3.74 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose. Oakland A's pitcher Sean Manaea is expected to get the ball for Stockton on a rehabilitation assignment. The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:40 PM.
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California League Stories from June 24, 2016
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