Fargas Throw Seals 5-4 Giants Victory
April 20, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
LAKE ELSINORE, CA - Giants left fielder Johneshwy Fargas threw out the potential tying run at the plate to end the game Tuesday night sending San Jose to a 5-4 victory over the Lake Elsinore Storm at The Diamond. With the win, the Giants (5-5) evened their series against the Storm at a game apiece.
In the bottom of the ninth inning with San Jose ahead by a run, Lake Elsinore put a runner at second base with two outs. Facing Giants closer Rodolfo Martinez, the Storm's Luis Urias then lined a single into left, but Fargas fielded the ball quickly and fired a perfect one-hop strike to the plate with catcher Aramis Garcia tagging out Lake Elsinore baserunner Josh Van Meter to end the game.
C.J Hinojosa (2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI) had two hits and drove in three runs, including a go-ahead RBI double in the top of the sixth inning, to lead the Giants offensive attack. Chris Shaw (2-for-4), Steven Duggar (2-for-5, 3B) and Brandon Bednar (2-for-3) also finished with two hits apiece.
Pat Young (1-0) was credited with the win out of the San Jose bullpen after tossing 2 2/3 hitless innings of relief. Young struck out three and did not walk a batter during his impressive long relief stint. Martinez pitched a scoreless top of the ninth inning for his fourth save of the year.
Tuesday was a back-and-forth affair with the Giants taking the early lead in the top of the first. Hinojosa started the first-inning rally by drawing a two-out walk before Shaw singled. Garcia then stepped to the plate and lined an RBI single into center plating Hinojosa for a 1-0 San Jose advantage.
Mark Reyes started on the mound for the Giants and initially struggled as the Storm scored twice in the bottom of the first to move in front. A walk to Franchy Cordero began the frame before Urias crushed a fly ball to deep center. On the play, San Jose center fielder Ronnie Jebavy crashed into the wall as he was unable to make a spectacular catch. As Jebavy stayed down on the ground and the ball rolled away, Cordero easily scored and Urias raced around the bases for a two-run inside-the-park home run.
The Giants though immediately answered with two runs of their own in the top of the second. Jonah Arenado led off with a single before Bednar was hit by a pitch. The runners then moved up on a Fargas sacrifice bunt and after Jebavy grounded out, Hinojosa laced a two-out single into left center field plating both Arenado and Bednar for a 3-2 San Jose lead.
The Giants then pushed across another run in the top of the third to make it 4-2 as Duggar led off with a triple to deep left center and immediately scored when the next batter, Jose Vizcaino, Jr., singled to right.
Reyes settled down and kept the Storm off the scoreboard from the second through the fourth innings yielding just one hit over the three frames. Lake Elsinore though chased Reyes from the game with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the contest. Jose Ruiz led off the inning with a single before Van Meter doubled to put runners on second and third. Reyes recovered to strikeout Cordero, but Urias then singled sharply into center to score both Ruiz and Van Meter tying the game 4-4. The hit ended Reyes' night as Young was summoned from the bullpen and he quickly retired the next two hitters to finish the inning.
Reyes was charged with four runs (all earned) on five hits over 4 1/3 innings. The left-hander walked four and struck out one.
The Giants then immediately reclaimed the lead with a run in the top of the sixth. Fargas led off with a single before he was balked to second by Storm reliever Trevor Seidenberger. Following a walk to Jebavy, Hinojosa belted a double off the fence in deep right to bring home Fargas with the go-ahead tally. The hit gave San Jose a 5-4 lead, but the Giants were unable to add to their advantage as Seidenberger set down the next three hitters - Shaw, Garcia and Duggar - to leave two runners in scoring position.
Young struck out two in a scoreless bottom of the sixth pitching around a two-out error. In the seventh, Urias reached on an error with two outs and stole second, but was stranded when Young retired Javier Guerra on a fly out.
Reyes Moronta (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth for San Jose to maintain the one-run lead. Nick Schulz singled with two outs - the Storm's first hit since the fifth inning - but Moronta set down the next batter, Trae Santos, on a pop out to end the inning.
With the score still 5-4, Martinez (1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) entered from the bullpen to begin the bottom of the ninth. He struck out Ruiz to start the inning before Van Meter singled up the middle. Cordero followed with a weak groundout to shortstop for the second out as Van Meter moved to second. Urias then lined his single to left, but Fargas' throw home nailed Van Meter to seal the Giants victory.
Seidenberger (1-1) was saddled with the loss out of the Lake Elsinore bullpen after surrendering the tiebreaking run in the top of the sixth.
Notes:
* The Giants improved to 3-3 on their road trip.
* Fargas has five outfield assists in 10 games this season.
* Shaw extended his hitting streak to seven games - the longest by a Giants player this year.
* San Jose out-hit Lake Elsinore 12-8 on Tuesday. Eight Giants had at least one hit.
* The bullpen trio of Young, Moronta and Martinez combined to throw 4 2/3 scoreless innings with three hits allowed, no walks and five strikeouts.
On Deck: The Giants conclude their Southern California road trip on Wednesday night with the finale of their three-game series against Lake Elsinore. First pitch at The Diamond is scheduled for 6:00 PM. Jason Forjet (1-0, 0.00 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while the Storm are expecting to counter with Martires Arias (0-1, 4.35 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 5:30 PM.
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