Blaze Power Surge Sinks Giants
June 5, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
SAN JOSE, CA - The Bakersfield Blaze hit four home runs on Sunday afternoon en route to a 7-5 victory over the San Jose Giants at Municipal Stadium. Bakersfield jumped out to a 5-0 lead after 2 1/2 innings and held on for their second straight win against the Giants to open the series.
Joe DeCarlo (2-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI) homered twice for the Blaze while Kyle Petty (2-for-4, HR, RBI) and Chantz Mack (1-for-3, HR, 3 RBI) also each went deep to lead the offensive barrage. The win was Bakersfield's sixth in a row overall.
Brandon Bednar (3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) had three hits and drove in a pair of runs for San Jose at the plate. Cristian Paulino (1-for-4, HR, RBI) also connected for his first home run of the year.
The Blaze raced out early against Giants starter Sam Coonrod scoring once in the top of the first. Drew Jackson started the game with a double into the right center field gap. An Arby Fields fly out then advanced Jackson to third before Mack hit a sacrifice fly to deep right plating the run.
Bakersfield then used a pair of two-run homers over the next two innings to push their lead to 5-0. In the top of the second, Jay Baum drew a leadoff walk before DeCarlo stepped to the plate with one out and launched a towering home run to left. Then in the third, Fields walked with one down before Mack crushed a fly ball over the fence in right for another two-run home run.
Meanwhile, the Giants managed just two hits over the first four innings against Blaze starter Anthony Misiewicz - a second-inning single from Bednar and a Ronnie Jebavy double in the bottom of the third. San Jose finally broke through in the fifth when Paulino hit a one-out solo homer to left. Bakersfield though immediately got the run back in the top of the sixth with their third home run of the day - a solo shot from Petty off of Coonrod.
The Giants then responded with a three-run bottom of the sixth to trim the Blaze lead to 6-4. A walk to Steven Duggar started the inning before Chris Shaw delivered a one-out single to put runners on first and second. Jose Vizcaino, Jr. was up next and he doubled into the left field corner plating Duggar with the first run of the frame. Bednar followed with a line drive into right field corner for another double as Shaw and Vizcaino both scored to bring San Jose to within 6-4. The hit chased Misiewicz, but new pitcher Jacob Zokan quickly got out of the inning by setting down Ty Ross on a groundout before striking out Paulino.
Jeff Soptic (2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) relieved Coonrod to begin the top of the seventh and promptly allowed a leadoff home run to DeCarlo - his second of the game - to push the Bakersfield lead back up to three runs.
The Giants threatened in the bottom of the seventh against Zokan as Jebavy walked with one out before Duggar singled to bring the potential tying run to the plate. However, Jonah Arenado flied out to shallow right and Shaw's hard grounder to first was stopped by a diving Petty, who then recorded the out to end the inning.
San Jose scratched across a run in the eighth as Bednar reached on a one-out infield single and moved to second on the play when the throw from the shortstop Jackson bounced away. A wild pitch then advanced Bednar to third before Ross produced an RBI groundout. The run cut the Blaze lead to 7-5, but the Giants wouldn't manage another baserunner for the remainder of the game. Paulino popped out to end the eighth before a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth as Robbie Garvey also popped out before Jebavy and Duggar both struck out.
Misiewicz (3-4) picked-up the win after tossing 5 1/3 innings with four runs (all earned) and six hits allowed. He walked two and struck out three. Vinny Nittoli collected his third save of the season after pitching the last two innings with just one unearned run surrendered.
Coonrod (5-3) allowed a season-high six runs (all earned) on four hits over six innings to take the loss. The right-hander walked two and struck out. Coonrod retired 11 out of the last 12 batters of his outing.
Notes:
* San Jose has suffered back-to-back home losses for the first time since dropping two straight from May 8-13. The Giants have yet to lose three home games in a row this season.
* Coonrod allowed only six baserunners over six innings, but all came home to score. He had not surrendered a home run in 49 2/3 innings this season before yielding a career-high three round-trippers on Sunday.
* Coonrod had won his previous five starts (0.57 ERA) prior to Sunday's outing.
* Both teams finished with eight hits.
* San Jose went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position (Bakersfield 0-for-2).
* The road team has won all five games in the Giants-Blaze season series this year (San Jose leads 3-2).
On Deck: The Giants and Blaze continue their four-game series on Monday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 6:30 PM. Jordan Johnson (5-3, 4.07 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Bakersfield is expected to counter with Tyler Herb (5-2, 2.98 ERA). For tickets, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.
California League Stories from June 5, 2016
- Quakes Hold off Sixers for Sunday Win - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Rawhide Rally in Ninth, Sink Ports 6-5 - Stockton Ports
- Nuts out Slugged in 15-8 Loss - Modesto Nuts
- San Jose Giants Celebrate 7 Million Fans Through Municipal Stadium Gates - San Jose Giants
- JetHawks Go Deep Five Times in Roasting of Nuts - Lancaster JetHawks
- DeCarlo Clubs Giants in Win - Bakersfield Blaze
- Blaze Power Surge Sinks Giants - San Jose Giants
- Yo Joe - Bakersfield Blaze
- 66ers Open Series with 5-4 Win over Quakes - Inland Empire 66ers
- Ports Drop Fifth Straight, Lose 8-3 - Stockton Ports
- Quakes Fall to Sixers in Series-Opener - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
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