CalL1 San Jose Giants

Bullpen Woes Continue in 6-3 Loss

July 25, 2018 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE, CA - The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes scored six runs in a three-inning span against the San Jose bullpen on Tuesday night en route to a 6-3 victory over the Giants at Municipal Stadium. The series-opening defeat was San Jose's (45-58 overall, 11-22 second half) fourth straight loss overall.

Logan Webb fired five scoreless innings in his start for the Giants to lower his season ERA to a sparkling 1.94. Webb worked around three hits and three walks while collecting six strikeouts during his outing. Webb left the game with a 1-0 lead before the Quakes rallied for two runs in the sixth, three runs in the top of the seventh and one run in the eighth against San Jose relievers to secure the win. The Giants suffered their league-leading 20th blown save of the season while the bullpen now owns an 8.31 ERA (28 ER/30.1 IP) over the last seven games.

Jalen Miller (2-for-4, 2B, SB), Gio Brusa (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Johneshwy Fargas (2-for-4) had two hits apiece to lead San Jose offensively in the loss.

The Giants took an early 1-0 lead with a run in the bottom of the first. Jacob Heyward drew a leadoff walk before Brusa singled with two outs to put runners on the corners. Dillon Dobson then beat out a slow roller in front of the mound for an infield single as Heyward came home with the first run of the night.

San Jose though failed to take advantage of opportunities in subsequent innings to extend their lead. In the bottom of the third, Miller doubled with one out and stole third, but was stranded when Brusa and Dobson both struck out. Then in the fifth, Heyward belted a one-out triple off the left center field wall, however Heath Quinn popped out to second and Miller flied out to right to keep the score at 1-0.

Webb, meanwhile, managed to keep the Quakes off the board over the first five innings. Rancho Cucamonga threatened in the top of the third as Jared Walker drew a leadoff walk before a one-out walk to Saige Jenco. With two down, Omar Estevez singled into shallow right, but the right fielder Heyward threw out Walker at the plate to end the inning. Webb then pitched through a leadoff walk in the fourth and a one-out single in the fifth.

Peter Lannoo then relieved Webb to start the top of the sixth and after retiring the first batter of the frame, surrendered a game-tying solo home run to right off the bat of Cody Thomas. A walk to Cristian Santana followed before consecutive singles from Connor Wong and Logan Landon loaded the bases. Sandro Cabrera was then summoned from the bullpen to face Walker, who lifted a sacrifice fly to right plating Santana giving the Quakes a 2-1 lead.

After the Giants went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Rancho Cucamonga kept the pressure on with three more runs against the San Jose bullpen in the top of the seventh. Cabrera issued a leadoff walk to Jenco and a one-out walk to Estevez. Cabrera recovered to set down Thomas on a fly out to center as Jenco advanced to third, but Santana then greeted new pitcher Connor Overton with an RBI infield single to third extending the lead to 3-1. Wong was up next and he laced a double down the left field line bringing home Estevez and Santana to make it 5-1.

Down by four runs, the Giants threatened in the bottom of the seventh, but came away empty-handed. Fargas led off with a single before a walk to Brandon Van Horn put runners on first and second. The two runners though did not advance any further as Tanner Murphy flied out to left, Heyward fouled out to the catcher and Quinn struck out swinging.

Rancho Cucamonga scored their sixth and final run of the evening in the top of the eighth on a towering solo home run to right from Walker off of Rodolfo Martinez.

San Jose trimmed the Quakes lead to 6-3 with two runs in the bottom of the eighth, however would get no closer. Miller led off with a single and immediately scored when the next batter, Brusa, clubbed a double to deep left center. Brusa then scored on a two-out error to bring the Giants to within three runs.

In the bottom of the ninth, Heyward reached on a one-out error, but Quinn followed by grounding into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.

Nolan Long (5-0) recorded the win out of the Rancho Cucamonga bullpen after tossing 2 1/3 scoreless innings with one hit allowed, no walks and three strikeouts.

Lannoo (1-5) was saddled with the loss for San Jose. He was charged with two runs (both earned) on three hits over one-third of an inning.

Notes

* Tuesday was the opener of a six-game homestand for San Jose.

* The Giants have lost seven out of their last eight games overall.

* Webb has not allowed an earned run in 13 out of his 19 starts this season.

* San Jose suffered their 12th blown save since June 1.

* The Quakes out-hit the Giants 10-9.

* San Jose was 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

* Miller's double was his team-leading 28th of the season (third in the California League).

* Heyward (1-for-4, 3B) hit his first triple of the year. He was batting leadoff for the first time this season.

* The Giants fell to 2-11 against Rancho Cucamonga this season, including an 0-6 mark at Municipal Stadium.

On Deck

The Giants and Quakes continue their three-game series on Wednesday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 7:00 PM. Domenic Mazza (3-1, 2.22 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Rancho Cucamonga is expected to counter with Max Gamboa (0-1, 3.60 ERA). It's 80's Night at the ballpark and tickets can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com.

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California League Stories from July 25, 2018


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