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 San Jose Giants

Blaze Bats Too Much for Giants in 14-8 Loss

August 25, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


BAKERSFIELD, CA - The Bakersfield Blaze scored nine runs in the first two innings and cruised to a 14-8 victory over the San Jose Giants on Wednesday evening at Sam Lynn Ballpark. The Blaze knocked out 14 hits in the contest and also took advantage of 12 walks issued by Giants pitching to even the series at a game apiece.

Dylan Davis (2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI) and T.J. Bennett (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) each homered to lead San Jose (66-63) offensively in defeat. The home run for Davis was his eighth in the last 13 games. Ronnie Jebavy (2-for-4) and Rando Moreno (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) also finished with two hits apiece.

Bakersfield jumped out early plating four runs in the bottom of the first against Giants starter Jose Reyes to take a 4-0 lead. A two-out walk to Chantz Mack started the rally before Jay Baum singled. Kyle Petty was up next and he lined a single into center scoring Mack with the first run of the night. Jordan Cowan then stepped to the plate and launched a three-run home run to right center, his second round-tripper of the year, giving the Blaze a 4-0 lead.

San Jose responded with a single run in the top of the second as Aramis Garcia reached on an error to leadoff and was eventually at third base with two outs. Robbie Garvey then beat out a grounder to first for an infield hit as Garcia scored to bring the Giants to within 4-1.

Bakersfield though kept the pressure on with five more runs in the bottom of the second. Ray Guerrini walked with one out before Gianfranco Wawoe was hit by a pitch. Drew Jackson then delivered an RBI single to put the Blaze back ahead by four runs. Following a Mack groundout, Reyes walked Baum to load the bases. Petty was up next, but he also walked forcing home Wawoe to make it 6-1. The bases loaded free pass ended Reyes' night as reliever Carlos Diaz entered and promptly walked Cowan on four pitches to score the third run of the inning. Braden Bishop then lined a single into left scoring two more runs for a 9-1 cushion. Following the hit to Bishop, Diaz was removed from the game due to an apparent injury with Jeff Soptic recording the final out of the inning.

Bakersfield scored five runs in the bottom of the second on just two hits - both singles. San Jose pitchers walked four and hit a batter in the inning.

The Giants came back in the top of the third with a three-run rally thanks to a home run from Davis. Jebavy led off with an infield single before Moreno drew a walk. Davis was up next and he crushed a 2-2 pitch from Blaze starter Anthony Misiewicz over the fence in left for a three-run home run. The homer, Davis' team-leading 17th of the season, cut the Bakersfield advantage to 9-4.

San Jose though would get no closer in the game. Misiewicz pitched around a Mitch Delfino leadoff single in the top of the fourth before reliever Kody Kerski cruised through a 1-2-3 fifth inning.

Soptic (2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) had kept the Blaze off the scoreboard in the bottom of the third and fourth innings, but would run into trouble in the fifth. A leadoff double from Guerrini and a one-out hit by pitch with Jackson batting put two runners on base. Mack and Baum then produced back-to-back RBI singles pushing the lead to 11-4 and ending Soptic's night. Hengerber Medina notched the final two outs of the inning for the Giants.

Bakersfield then scored two more runs in the bottom of the sixth with Medina (2 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO) on the mound. A double from Bishop followed by a pair of walks loaded the bases with two outs. Mack then lined a single into right plating two runs for a 13-4 advantage.

Cowan's second home run of the night was a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh off of Medina to make it 14-4.

San Jose scored four late runs in the game, but would still fall well short. In the top of the eighth, Bennett connected for an opposite-field two-run homer to deep left center. Then in the ninth, Jebavy drew a leadoff walk and immediately scored when the next batter, Moreno, laced a double into the right center field gap. Davis followed with a single before a Jonah Arenado double play grounder brought home Moreno to make the score 14-8.

Kerski (3-2) was credited with the win after tossing two scoreless innings of relief.

Reyes (4-5) surrendered a career-high tying nine runs (all earned) in 1 2/3 innings to take the loss. The right-hander allowed four hits, walked four and did not record a strikeout.

Notes - * San Jose lost for just the third time in 12 games at Sam Lynn Ballpark this season. * The Blaze out-hit the Giants 14-11. Bakersfield had 29 baserunners in the game (14 hits, 12 walks, 3 HBP). * Bennett has hit seven out of his eight home runs in August. He's batting .403 (29-for-72) this month (21 games). * San Jose's previous season-high in walks was nine (August 13 at Lancaster - 16-2 loss). * Reyes retired only five out of the 14 batters he faced. * The Giants have hit 10 home runs in their last three games at Sam Lynn Ballpark (5 HR on August 18, 3 HR Tuesday, 2 HR Wednesday). * Miguel Gomez's (0-for-5) hitting streak was snapped at seven games. * Wednesday's game time of three hours and 48 minutes is the longest nine-inning game to date this season for San Jose. * The Giants (27-32) fell back to five games behind Bakersfield (32-27) in the second half North Division race. 11 games remain in the regular season.

On Deck: The Giants and Blaze play the rubber game of their three-game series on Thursday evening with first pitch at Sam Lynn Ballpark scheduled for 7:15 PM. Dan Slania (2-1, 3.15 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Bakersfield is expected to counter with Tyler Pike (6-5, 4.17 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:45 PM.


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