CalL1 San Jose Giants

Blaze Control Giants to Complete Sweep

Published on September 1, 2016 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


Bakersfield's Osmer Morales fired seven dominant innings with just one run allowed and the Blaze scored five times over the sixth and seventh frames en route to a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Giants on Thursday afternoon at Municipal Stadium. With the loss, San Jose (67-69) was swept in the three-game series.

Miguel Gomez (2-for-4) had two of the four Giants hits while Cristian Paulino (1-for-3, SB) extended his hitting streak to 10 games in defeat.

San Jose's lone run in the contest came in the bottom of the third. Paulino led off with a single to left - the Giants' only hit over the first six innings against Morales. Paulino then stole second and moved to third on Ty Ross' groundout. Robbie Garvey followed with a sacrifice fly to right plating Paulino giving San Jose a 1-0 lead.

Caleb Baragar made the start on the mound for the Giants in his California League debut. The left-hander dazzled through five scoreless innings yielding just one hit. Baragar escaped a bases loaded jam in the top of the first as Chantz Mack walked with two outs, Jay Baum grounded a single into right and Kyle Petty walked. However, first baseman Jonah Arenado made a diving catch down the right field line of Joe DeCarlo's foul pop up to end the inning.

Baragar then worked three straight 1-2-3 frames and had retired 12 consecutive Bakersfield hitters until issuing a two-out walk to Daniel Torres in the top of the fifth. Baragar though came back and set down Gianfranco Wawoe on a pop out to second ending the inning with the 1-0 lead intact.

The Blaze, however, rallied in the sixth against Baragar. Consecutive one-out walks to Mack and Baum started the rally. Petty then grounded out back to the mound as the runners advanced to second and third. DeCarlo was up next and during his at-bat, Baragar uncorked a wild pitch allowing Mack to score the tying run. Moments later, DeCarlo grounded a double down the left field line bringing home Baum to make it 2-1. The go-ahead hit ended Baragar's afternoon as Jeff Soptic was summoned from the bullpen. Braden Bishop greeted Soptic with an infield single before a wild pitch from the San Jose reliever allowed DeCarlo to score making it 3-1.

The Blaze then scored twice against Soptic (1 1/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO) in the top of the seventh to extend their lead to 5-1. A fielding error committed by Gomez at third base allowed Drew Jackson to reach starting the inning. Jackson then stole second and advanced to third when Ross' throw bounced into center. Mack followed with a single plating Jackson with the first run of the frame. Soptic recovered to strikeout Baum, but a single from Petty and then an RBI single off the bat of DeCarlo pushed the lead to 5-1.

Morales (5-6) retired 21 out of the 25 batters he faced during his seven-inning masterpiece to pick-up the win. The Giants' only hits against Morales were Paulino's single in the third and a two-out infield single from Gomez in the bottom of the seventh. Morales walked one and struck out nine.

Joe Pistorese then tossed a scoreless bottom of the eighth for the Blaze working around a Ronnie Jebavy two-out single. In the ninth, Thyago Vieira gave up a two-out infield single to Gomez, but bounced back to strikeout T.J. Bennett ending the game.

Baragar (0-1) suffered the loss after he was charged with three runs (all earned) on two hits over 5 2/3 innings. The left-hander walked five and struck out three.

Notes - * The Blaze clinched the second half North Division title with Thursday's win. * The Giants have lost four games in a row and seven out of their last eight. It's their first four-game losing streak since dropping four straight from July 29-August 1. * Bakersfield out-hit San Jose 8-4. The Blaze were 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position compared to 0-for-1 for the Giants. * Paulino's hitting streak is his longest of the season. * Baragar was added to San Jose's roster before the game from the AZL-Giants (Rookie). He was 5-2 with a 2.28 ERA in 14 games (10 starts) in the Arizona Rookie League. * The Giants finished 12-14 versus Bakersfield during the regular season (3-10 at Municipal Stadium, 9-4 at Sam Lynn Ballpark). * Blaze pitching struck out 42 San Jose hitters during the three-game series, including 12 on Thursday. * The Giants dropped to two games below .500 overall for the first time since May 1 (10-12). * Pitcher Dan Slania and outfielder Daniel Carbonell were transferred to Sacramento (AAA) before the game on Thursday. Outfielder Heath Quinn joined San Jose from Salem-Keizer (Short-Season).

On Deck: The Giants continue their homestand on Friday evening with the opener of a four-game series against the Visalia Rawhide that will close out the regular season. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Conner Menez (1-0, 6.53 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Visalia is expected to counter with Joel Payamps (7-4, 4.66 ERA). It's a KRTY Family Friday and Japanese Heritage Night at the ballpark. A spectacular fireworks show will also follow the game. For tickets, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.

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