Giants Open Road Trip with 4-2 Victory
April 22, 2017 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
STOCKTON, CA - The San Jose Giants snapped their three-game losing streak with a 4-2 series-opening victory over the Stockton Ports on Friday evening at Banner Island Ballpark. Jonah Arenado delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the top of the eighth before Ryan Halstead slammed the door on the Ports in the ninth to secure the win.
Ryan Howard (3-for-5, 2 2B) had three hits, including a pair of doubles to lead the Giants (8-7) offensive attack. Ali Castillo (2-for-5, 2B, RBI) added two hits, including a key RBI double in the top of the ninth that extended the San Jose lead.
With the score tied 2-2, the pivotal eighth-inning rally began when Howard smacked a leadoff double to deep right center field. Howard remained at second when Bryan Reynolds popped out and Gio Brusa lined out, but Arenado then stepped to the plate and grounded a single through the hole on the right side. The hit easily scored Howard from second to give the Giants a 3-2 lead.
Halstead entered from the bullpen to begin the bottom of the eighth and quickly set down the Ports in order to maintain the one-run advantage.
In the top of the ninth, San Jose then pushed across an insurance run to stretch their lead to 4-2. Daniel Carbonell led off by drawing a walk before moving to second on Connor Sabanosh's sacrifice bunt. After Johneshwy Fargas struck out, Castillo belted a double to the fence in deep left plating Carbonell to extend the lead to two runs.
Halstead returned to the mound for the bottom of the ninth inning and promptly retired the first two batters putting the Giants on the cusp of a victory. Brett Siddall though lined a single into right before Josh Vidales blooped a single into shallow left center to bring the potential winning run to the plate. However, Halstead settled down and struck out Branden Cogswell looking with a 2-2 pitch ending the game.
Connor Kaden (1-0) was credited with the win out of the San Jose bullpen after tossing two scoreless innings over the sixth and seventh. Kaden, who was making his California League debut, allowed one hit, walked none and struck out one. Halstead (2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) earned his second save after picking-up the final six outs of the contest.
The Giants jumped out early with two runs in the top of the second inning against Stockton starter Angel Duno. With one out, Jose Vizcaino Jr. singled before Carbonell lofted an RBI double into the left field corner. Sabanosh followed with a single advancing Carbonell to third before Fargas' sacrifice fly to left pushed the lead to 2-0.
Conner Menez started on the mound for San Jose and worked the first five innings yielding two runs (both earned) and seven hits. Menez walked one and struck out one during his 82-pitch outing.
The Ports tied the game with single runs in the second and fifth innings against Menez. In the bottom of the second, Seth Brown led off with a single, stole second and eventually scored on Mikey White's two-out single. Then in the fifth, White and Siddall produced back-to-back singles to start the inning before Cogswell's one-out single brought home the tying run.
Menez managed to pitch out of trouble over the remainder of his outing inducing inning-ending double plays in the first and third frames. Fargas also made a spectacular diving catch in deep left center on a fly ball hit by Chris Iriart to end the bottom of the fourth leaving a runner on base.
Kaden then kept the game tied by holding Stockton off the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings. Kaden pitched around two errors and a single in his two frames.
Logan Shore (0-1) was saddled with the loss after yielding the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth - his only run allowed in four innings of long relief. Shore surrendered three hits, walked one and struck out five.
Notes
* Friday was the opener of a seven-game road trip.
* The Giants improved to 3-1 against the Ports this season. San Jose will play Stockton 13 times over a 24-game span from April 13 to May 7.
* Howard (.328 AVG) has multi-hits in eight out of his 14 games this season.
* The Ports out-hit the Giants 10-9.
* Kaden was added to the San Jose roster from Extended Spring Training before the game on Friday.
* Halstead lowered his season ERA to 0.96 (1 ER/9.1 IP).
* In other roster moves on Friday, Castillo joined the team from Sacramento (AAA) while catcher John Riley and outfielder Christoph Bono were added from Extended Spring Training. Catcher Aramis Garcia and infielder Dillon Dobson were both placed on the 7-day disabled list.
On Deck
The Giants and Ports continue their three-game series on Saturday evening with first pitch at Banner Island Ballpark scheduled for 7:10 PM. Mike Connolly (1-1, 1.74 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose. Oakland A's right-hander Sonny Gray will start for Stockton on a rehabilitation assignment. The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:50 PM.
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California League Stories from April 22, 2017
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