CalL1 San Jose Giants

Big Inning Sinks Giants as Blaze Take Series

June 29, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE, CA - The Bakersfield Blaze erupted for eight runs in the top of the fifth inning en route to a 9-4 victory over the San Jose Giants on Wednesday afternoon at Municipal Stadium. The Blaze sent 12 batters to the plate during the decisive frame knocking out seven hits and taking advantage of two key Giants errors. With the loss, San Jose (41-35) drops two out of three games in the series to Bakersfield.

Daniel Carbonell (3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI) and Steven Duggar (3-for-5) had three hits apiece to lead the Giants offensively in defeat. Chris Shaw (2-for-5, HR, RBI) added a pair of hits, including his team-leading 16th home run of the season. San Jose finished the contest with 15 hits, but left 12 on base and went just 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

The Giants owned a 2-1 lead after four innings before the Blaze exploded in the fifth. Facing San Jose starter D.J. Snelten, the inning began with a double into right center from Drew Jackson. Gianfranco Wawoe then dropped down a sacrifice bunt. On the play, third baseman Jose Vizcaino, Jr. barehanded the ball, but threw wildly down the line to first. The error allowed Jackson to score the tying run while Wawoe advanced into second. Jay Baum was up next and he crushed a 1-0 pitch from Snelten over the fence in left center for a go-ahead two-run homer. The home run was Baum's fourth of the season and it gave Bakersfield a 4-2 lead.

The fifth-inning rally continued as Austin Wilson followed the home run with a single. Daniel Torres then singled before Joe DeCarlo produced an RBI single to extend the Blaze lead to 5-2. Gus Craig followed with a fourth consecutive single to load the bases and knock Snelten out of the game. The Giants starter did not retire any of the seven batters he faced in the top of the fifth. Jose Morel was summoned from the bullpen and the first batter he faced was Justin Seager, who hit a grounder to third that was misplayed by Vizcaino for another error. Torres scored on the play to make it 6-2. After Arby Fields struck out, Jackson grounded into a fielder's choice as Craig was forced out at third while DeCarlo scored for a 7-2 advantage. Wawoe then capped the fifth-inning scoring with a bloop single into shallow left center bringing home two more runs extending the Bakersfield lead to 9-2.

Snelten (3-7) suffered the loss after he was charged with a career-high eight runs (four earned) on 10 hits in four-plus innings of work. The left-hander walked one and struck out three.

Morel (4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) worked perfect sixth, seventh and eighth innings for the Giants. The San Jose reliever retired the final 10 batters he faced. Reyes Moronta (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) then pitched a 1-2-3 top of the ninth. The duo combined to set down 13 consecutive Blaze hitters to end the contest.

The Giants pushed across single runs in the eighth and ninth innings, but fell well short in their comeback bid. Back-to-back doubles from Vizcaino, Jr. and Carbonell in the bottom of the eighth produced one run. In the ninth, Jonah Arenado and Shaw both singled with one out before Carbonell's two-out RBI single brought San Jose to within 9-4.

Bakersfield starter Osmer Morales (1-1) earned the win after pitching the first five innings with two runs (both earned) and seven hits allowed. He struck out seven and walked none.

After two scoreless innings to begin the afternoon, both teams plated a run in the third. In the top of the inning, Jackson led off with a single before Wawoe reached on an error. After a successful double steal and a strikeout, Wilson hit a sacrifice fly to right.

The Giants though answered in the bottom of the third as Richard Rodriguez slammed a double to deep right center to begin the inning and immediately scored when Rene Melendez's sacrifice bunt was thrown away down the right field line by the first baseman Seager.

Shaw then gave San Jose a 2-1 lead with a towering solo home run to deep right center in the bottom of the fourth.

Snelten yielded just one unearned run over the first four innings before running into trouble in the top of fifth.

Notes:

* San Jose out-hit Bakersfield 15-11.

* The Blaze have won 13 out of their last 14 road games. Bakersfield is 6-1 at Municipal Stadium this season.

* Shaw is second in the California League in home runs and second in RBI's (55).

* The Giants bullpen combined to pitch 13 innings with just one hit and one unearned run allowed during the three-game series against the Blaze.

* Snelten allowed his first home run in 71 1/3 innings pitched this year.

* San Jose fell to 2-5 in the second half.

* Vizcaino, Jr. (2-for-5, 2B) also finished with a multi-hit game.

* The eight runs in the top of the fifth matched the highest-scoring inning against the Giants this season.

On Deck: The Giants next travel to Visalia to begin a four-game series against the Rawhide on Thursday evening. First pitch at Recreation Park is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Mark Reyes (6-2, 3.84 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Visalia is expected to counter with Ethan Elias (5-4, 5.48 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:30 PM.

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