CalL San Jose Giants

Big Inning Dooms Giants In Road Trip Opener

Published on July 26, 2023 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


The San Jose Giants opened their 12-game, 13-day Southern California road trip on Tuesday night with a 10-7 loss to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at LoanMart Field. Rancho Cucamonga went ahead for good with an eight-run bottom of the third inning and then held off the Giants late to secure the series-opening win. The setback snapped San Jose's (51-40 overall, 11-14 second half) three-game winning streak.

Zach Morgan (3-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI) had three hits, including a pair of doubles, to lead the Giants offensively in defeat. Diego Velasquez (2-for-5, 2B, SB) and Dilan Rosario (2-for-5) added two hits apiece while Alexander Suarez (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB) hit an inside-the-park home run.

The two teams went back-and-forth early with San Jose taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Suarez, the second batter of the game, hit a towering fly ball off the top of the fence in deep center field. As the ball rolled back towards the infield, Suarez raced around the bases and easily beat the throw home from center for his fifth home run of the season. It was the Giants' second inside-the-park homer of the year (Carter Howell).

Manuel Mercedes started on the mound for San Jose and immediately ran into trouble as the Quakes scored twice in the bottom of the first inning for a 2-1 advantage. With one out, Josue De Paula singled, stole second and scored the tying run on Thayron Liranzo's double down the right field line. Then with two down, Rayne Doncon singled up the middle to bring home Liranzo with the second run of the frame.

The Giants though immediately answered sending eight batters to the plate in a four-run top of the second. Andrew Kachel led off by drawing a nine-pitch walk and scored the tying run when the next batter, Morgan, clubbed a double off the fence in deep left center. After P.J. Hilson popped out, Rosario lined a single into right to put runners on the corners. Jose Ramos then singled sharply into center to plate Morgan for a 3-2 San Jose lead. A wild pitch moments later brought home Rosario before Turner Hill's RBI single scored Ramos to make it 5-2.

Mercedes breezed through a 1-2-3 bottom of the second but poor Giants defense to begin the bottom of the third opened the door for Rancho Cucamonga's big inning. Three straight errors allowed the first three runners of the inning to reach safely for the Quakes. Jose Izarra led off by reaching on a Justin Bench throwing error at third base. Catcher's interference on Morgan then put De Paula on base before Liranzo's grounder to the right side was misplayed by Rosario for an error which scored Izarra with the first run of the inning. Three straight singles followed as Jorge Puerta was up next and he brought home both De Paula and Liranzo with a basehit to tie the game 5-5. Doncon and Wilman Diaz then both singled to load the bases with still none out. Simon Reid followed with a grounder to first that saw Rosario force out Puerta at home for the first out of the inning. Dayton Dooney then hit a potential inning-ending double play grounder to third that Bench initially mishandled before recording a force out at second on Reid. The fielder's choice allowed Doncon to score giving Rancho back the lead at 6-5.

The rally then continued as Luis Guerra blooped an RBI single down the right field line to make it 7-5. Izarra followed with an RBI double for an 8-5 margin before De Paula walked to load the bases and end Mercedes' night. Liranzo then greeted new pitcher Julio Rodriguez with a two-RBI single as the Quakes lead grew to 10-5. All eight runs in the bottom of the third were unearned.

The big inning would prove to be too much for the Giants to overcome. San Jose scratched across one run in the top of the fourth without the benefit of a hit as Ramos drew a leadoff walk, stole second, moved to third on a Hill groundout and scored on a Suarez groundout to cut the deficit to 10-6.

San Jose went down quietly in the fifth and sixth innings before threatening in the top of the seventh. With two outs, Velasquez doubled down the right field line, Bench was hit by a pitch and Kachel walked to load the bases. However, Morgan, as the potential tying run, flied out to left center to end the inning.

With the score still at 10-6, the Giants made some noise in the top of the ninth as Velasquez led off with a single and Kachel walked with one out. Morgan then lined a single into center - his third hit of the night - to bring home Velasquez to trim the Rancho lead to 10-7. Hilson though struck out and Rosario grounded out as the potential tying run to end the game.

The Quakes out-hit the Giants by an 11-10 margin. Rancho Cucamonga was a sizzling 7-for-12 with runners in scoring position (San Jose 4-for-15). The Giants stole six bases in the loss - one off their season-high. The eight-run bottom of the third matched the most runs allowed by San Jose in an inning this year. Three Giants relievers - Rodriguez (2 1/3 IP), Luis Moreno (2 IP) and Cameron Cotter (1 IP) combined to throw 5 1/3 shutout innings out of the bullpen.

The Giants continue their series in Rancho Cucamonga on Wednesday evening with first pitch at LoanMart Field set for 6:30 PM. Dylan Cumming is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher. The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com.

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California League Stories from July 26, 2023


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