Eighth-Inning Rally Dooms Giants In 8-5 Loss
Published on April 13, 2011 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
LANCASTER - The Lancaster JetHawks scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally for an 8-5 victory over the San Jose Giants on Tuesday evening at Clear Channel Stadium. Lancaster's Jonathan Villar connected for a two-run homer to tie the game before Ben Heath delivered a two-out, RBI single to put the JetHawks in front for good. The loss snapped San Jose's three-game winning streak and dropped their record to 4-2.
Tommy Joseph (1-for-4, HR, 4 RBI) blasted a go-ahead grand slam for the Giants in the top of the sixth inning, but San Jose managed only five hits overall. Luke Anders (1-for-3, HR, RBI) also homered while Gary Brown (2-for-3, SB) was the lone San Jose player to finish with a multi-hit game.
The Giants took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning as Jose Casilla entered the contest to begin the frame. Jay Austin led off for the JetHawks and promptly singled into right field before Villar stepped to the plate and belted a two-run homer to deep right center. Jose Altuve then restarted the rally by drawing a walk and was at third base with two outs when Heath blooped a single into shallow center field to give Lancaster a 6-5 lead. Kody Hinze followed by drawing a walk before Mitch Lively surrendered an RBI double to Erik Castro and then a run-scoring single to Austin Wates for an 8-5 JetHawks advantage.
Casilla (0-2) suffered the loss after he was charged with all five runs in the eighth inning. Casilla allowed three hits and issued two walks in 2/3 of an inning.
Lancaster initially took a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning against Giants starter Michael Main. Austin led off with a bloop double into shallow left center before taking third on a wild pitch and then scoring when Villar hit a sacrifice fly to left. The second run scored when Jake Goebbert singled with two outs, moved to second on Main's wild pick-off throw and came home when Jonathan Meyer singled.
Main settled down after his rocky bottom of the first to hold the JetHawks off the scoreboard over the next four innings. Main finished his outing with six hits and two runs (one earned) allowed over five innings of work. He walked one and struck out three. Main faced the minimum 12 hitters from the second through the fifth innings with all three baserunners during that stretch thrown out at second base.
Jose Cisnero started on the mound for Lancaster and struck out nine batters and allowed just one single over the first four innings. The Giants finally broke through against Cisnero in the top of the fifth when Anders led off by driving an 0-2 pitch over the fence in right center field for a solo homer.
San Jose took their first lead of the evening in the top of the sixth as Brown started the rally with a single before Nick Liles drew a walk. Colt Pitkin was then summoned from the bullpen to replace Cisnero, but he walked Jarrett Parker to load the bases. After Chris Dominguez lined out to shortstop, Joseph hit the first pitch of his at-bat over the wall in straightaway right field for a grand slam and a 5-2 Giants advantage. The home run was Joseph's second of the season.
The Giants though would manage just one hit for the remainder of the contest - a one-out single in the top of the seventh off the bat of Brown. Andy Reichard (2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) relieved Main to begin the bottom of the sixth and surrendered a solo homer to Goebbert bringing Lancaster to within 5-3. Reichard then worked around a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh to keep San Jose ahead by two runs before the JetHawks exploded in the eighth against Casilla.
Despite allowing the grand slam, Pitkin (1-0) was credited with the victory for Lancaster after holding the Giants scoreless in the seventh and eighth innings.
Notes: Casilla has both of San Jose's losses this season ... He's allowed seven earned runs over three innings spanning three relief appearances ... The seven earned runs matches the total he allowed all of last season with Augusta (Low-A) over 54 1/3 innings ... Casilla also allowed his first home run since 2008 while pitching for the AZL-Giants (Rookie) ... Joseph leads the California League with 13 RBI's through the first six games of the season ... He's the only San Jose player to have hit safely in every game ... Lancaster out-hit the Giants by a 12-5 margin ... Cisnero has 20 strikeouts in his first two starts this season (10 innings) ... Relief pitcher Chris Gloor was placed on the 7-day disabled list prior to the game retroactive to Sunday ... Reichard was added to the roster from Extended Spring Training.
On Deck: The Giants and JetHawks will play the rubber game of their three-game series on Wednesday evening with first pitch at Clear Channel Stadium scheduled for 7:00 PM. Kelvin Marte (1-0, 0.00 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lancaster is expected to counter with Andrew Robinson (0-1, 5.40 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.
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