CalL1 San Jose Giants

Duggar Powers Giants to 11-7 Victory, Series Split

Published on April 17, 2016 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN BERNARDINO, CA - San Jose's Steven Duggar homered twice as part of a four-hit, four-RBI game at the plate in an 11-7 Giants victory over the Inland Empire 66ers on Sunday afternoon at San Manuel Stadium. With the win, San Jose (4-4) earns a split of the four-game series against the Sixers.

Duggar (4-for-6, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI) led a 16-hit Giants outburst in the victory. Ronnie Jebavy (3-for-5, RBI, SB) and Richard Rodriguez (3-for-5, RBI, SB) added three hits apiece for San Jose while the Giants were also a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts.

San Jose took the lead for good in the contest with a three-run top of the second inning. Trailing 2-1, the rally began when Cristian Paulino reached on an error. Paulino then stole second and advanced to third when the throw from catcher Taylor Ward bounced into center field. Brandon Bednar followed with a groundout to second plating Paulino with the tying run. The rally restarted as Rodriguez singled and moved to third when Johneshwy Fargas singled to left. Then with Jebavy at the plate, the Giants successfully executed a double steal as Fargas swiped second and Rodriguez stole home to make it 3-2 San Jose. Two pitches later, Jebavy lined a single into right to score Fargas for a 4-2 advantage.

The Giants kept the pressure on with two more runs in the top of the third. Jonah Arenado led off with a single before Ty Ross doubled to right center putting runners on second and third. Then with one out, a Bednar sacrifice fly scored the first run of the frame before Rodriguez delivered a two-out RBI single to make it 6-2.

After the 66ers scored a run in the bottom of the third, Duggar took over at the plate. Duggar led off the top of the fourth with a towering solo home run to deep right center for a 7-3 San Jose lead. Then in the fifth, Jebavy walked with two outs and stole second before Duggar launched another home run - this time a two-run shot to right - to extend the lead to 9-3.

Meanwhile, Giants starter D.J. Snelten breezed through the bottom of the fourth before surrendering a single run in the fifth when Caleb Adams hit a two-out RBI double that was lost in the sun in right field. With San Jose ahead 9-4, the Sixers then rallied in the bottom of the sixth against reliever Dusten Knight (2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO). Michael Strentz led off with a triple before Ryan Sebra drew a walk. Trevor Allen then doubled home the first run of the inning before David Fletcher hit a sacrifice fly to trim the San Jose lead to 9-6. Knight followed by striking out Tim Arakawa, but a walk to Ward extended the inning. Zach Houchins then ripped an RBI single to right center as Allen came home to bring the Sixers to within 9-7. With the tying runs on base, Martin Agosta was then summoned from the bullpen and he was able to get out of the inning as the next batter, Adams, flied out to deep right on a running catch made by Fargas.

The Giants then reclaimed the momentum in the contest with two runs in the top of the seventh. Rodriguez led off with a single before Fargas dropped down a sacrifice bunt. On the play, Inland Empire reliever Dixon Llorens threw wildly down the right field line and when the ball was ruled out of play, Rodriguez was awarded home to push the lead to 10-7. Following a Jebavy bunt single, Duggar stepped to the plate and laced a double off the fence in right to score Fargas for an 11-7 cushion.

Agosta (2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) maintained the four-run lead over the next two innings for the Giants. The San Jose reliever used a double play to pitch around a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh before cruising through a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

Rodolfo Martinez (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO) sealed the Giants victory with a scoreless bottom of the ninth. Houchins walked with one out in the inning before Boehm hit a two-out single, but with the potential tying run in the on deck circle, Martinez retired Strentz on a groundout to end the game.

Snelten (1-0) picked-up his first win of the season for San Jose. The left-hander pitched five innings with four runs (two earned) and seven hits allowed. He walked two and struck out four during his 86-pitch outing.

66ers starter Jake Jewell (0-2) suffered the loss after yielding six runs (five earned) on nine hits over 2 2/3 innings.

Notes:

* The Giants had been held to two runs and seven hits in their previous two games before Sunday's 11-run, 16-hit outburst. The 11 runs scored for San Jose was a season-high.

* Duggar has hit four out of the Giants' five home runs this season. Sunday marked the first multi-homer game of his professional career.

* San Jose out-hit Inland Empire 16-12. Eight Giants had at least one hit.

* Paulino (2-for-5, 2 SB) also produced a multi-hit game for San Jose.

* Snelten picked-up his first win in 10 career starts with the Giants dating back to last season.

* Jebavy broke out of an 0-for-21 slump with his three hits on Sunday.

* Arenado (1-for-4) and Chris Shaw (1-for-5, RBI) extended hitting streaks to six games and five games respectively.

On Deck: The Giants continue their road trip on Monday evening with the opener of a three-game series against the Lake Elsinore Storm. First pitch at The Diamond is scheduled for 6:00 PM. Jordan Johnson (1-0, 5.40 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lake Elsinore is expected to counter with Dinelson Lamet (1-0, 4.00 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 5:30 PM.

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California League Stories from April 17, 2016


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