Early Home Runs Doom Giants In 12-3 Loss To Blaze
Published on May 8, 2009 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
The Bakersfield Blaze used a three-run home run and a grand slam in the first three innings to take an early lead Thursday night before cruising to a 12-3 victory over the San Jose Giants at Sam Lynn Ballpark. In the finale of a three-game series, the Blaze jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three frames while Blake Beavan tossed a complete-game four-hitter on the mound as Bakersfield avoided a sweep. With the loss, San Jose's overall record dropped to 17-11.
Beavan (1-4) earned his first victory of the season for the Blaze with only three unearned runs allowed, one walk and five strikeouts during a 105-pitch performance. Mauro Gomez blasted a three-run homer in the bottom of the first before Davis Stoneburner connected for a grand slam in the third propelling Bakersfield to the early lead. The 12 runs allowed were the most by the Giants this season while San Jose's four hits matched a season-low.
Craig Craig (1-2) suffered the loss for the Giants after yielding seven runs (all earned) on seven hits over three innings. Clark walked one and struck out five.
The Blaze quickly jumped in front in the bottom of the first inning when Engel Beltre led off with a single before Renny Osuna walked and then with one out, Gomez belted a towering home run to deep left center field.
In the bottom of the third, Mitch Moreland began the rally with a single and then Timothy Smith was hit by a pitch with one out. Joey Butler followed with a bad-hop single to third loading the bases before Jonathan Greene fanned for the second out of the inning. Stoneburner was up next and the Bakersfield shortstop lined the first pitch of his at-bat over the wall in left for a grand slam. The home run, Stoneburner's first of the season, extended the Blaze lead to 7-0.
San Jose attempted a comeback with a single run in the fourth inning before scoring twice in the top of the fifth. Nick Noonan began the fourth by reaching on an error before advancing to second on a passed ball. Conor Gillaspie then lined a single into center field advancing Noonan to third base. On the play, Beltre mishandled the ball in center allowing Noonan to easily score, however Gillaspie was thrown out at second attempting to advance.
In the fifth, Thomas Neal led off with a single and then Vladimir Frias drew a walk to put runners on first and second. After Trent Kline flied out to move Neal to third, Frias stole second base. Skyler Stromsmoe followed with a sharp ground ball back to Beavan that resulted with Neal being caught in a rundown between third and home. However, Neal was able to score on the play when he knocked the ball out of the glove of Blaze catcher Elio Sarmiento. Frias then scored to make it 7-3 when the next hitter, Darren Ford, delivered a sacrifice fly to center.
Beavan though settled down to not allow a hit over the final four innings of the contest. San Jose's only baserunners during that span were on a pair of errors and a hit by pitch.
Craig Whitaker (2 2/3 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) relieved Clark to begin the bottom of the fourth and initially worked a pair of scoreless innings. However in the sixth, Whitaker uncorked a two-out wild pitch allowing Osuna to score from third base extending the Bakersfield lead to 8-3. After a walk to the next hitter, Adam Cowart was summoned from the bullpen, but he immediately allowed an RBI single to Matthew Lawson. Butler followed by drawing a walk and then Greene capped the sixth-inning scoring with a two-run single into left center field.
The Blaze scored their final run of the night in the bottom of the eighth when Butler came through with a two-out, RBI single plating Moreland, who had earlier doubled. Cowart allowed two runs on five hits during his 2 1/3 inning stint on the mound.
Notes: Neal (2-for-4) was the only Giants starter to finish with a multiple-hit game at the plate ... He extended his hitting streak to nine games with a second-inning single ... Bakersfield out-hit San Jose by a 14-4 margin ... The Giants still won two out of three games in the series ... Beavan was a first round draft pick (17th overall selection) by the Texas Rangers in 2007 ... The Blaze committed five errors ... The nine-run margin of defeat was San Jose's largest of the season.
On Deck: The Giants continue their road trip on Friday evening with the opener of a three-game series against the Modesto Nuts. First pitch at John Thurman Field is scheduled for 7:05 PM. Oliver Odle (1-2, 6.30 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Cory Riordan (0-3, 6.26 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.
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