Sports stats

CalL San Jose Giants

Giants Bash Four Homers in 8-1 Victory

September 8, 2021 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


The Giants smacked four home runs on Wednesday afternoon while three San Jose pitchers combined on a three-hitter in a convincing 8-1 victory over the Stockton Ports at Excite Ballpark. Abdiel Layer and Carter Williams went deep during a five-run third-inning rally before Grant McCray and Yorlis Rodriguez added solo shots later in the contest for the Giants. On the mound, Kyle Harrison delivered another dominant start as San Jose evened their series with Stockton at a game apiece.

With Wednesday's victory, the Giants (68-42) reduced their magic number to clinch a postseason berth to three. San Jose is 7 1/2 games ahead of Rancho Cucamonga, who plays later Wednesday night, for the final playoff spot with 10 games remaining in the regular season.

The Ports' lone run of the afternoon came in the top of the first inning when Zack Gelof belted a one-out solo homer off of Kyle Harrison to make it 1-0. Stockton would then manage only two more hits for the remainder of the game, including none after the third inning.

With the score still at 1-0, the Giants then erupted in the bottom of the third. Consecutive singles from Edison Mora and Najee Gaskins started the inning before Layer stepped to the plate and launched an 0-1 pitch over the fence in straightaway center for a three-run homer. 412-foot blast was Layer's 11th home run of the year and it gave San Jose a 3-1 lead.

Later in the third, Ghordy Santos worked a two-out walk before Williams came up and hit a towering two-run home run to right. It was Williams' seventh round-tripper this season, including his sixth against the Ports, to make it 5-1.

San Jose then extended their lead with single tallies in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. In the bottom of the fifth, Rodriguez led off with a double, Patrick Bailey walked and Santos was hit by a pitch to load the bases with none out. Williams then grounded into a double play, which scored Rodriguez for a 6-1 advantage.

In the sixth, McCray crushed a two-out solo home run to deep right center. McCray, who had replaced Gaskins in center field in the top of the inning, has now hit two home runs with the Giants this season.

Rodriguez then completed the scoring with San Jose's fourth homer of the game - a line drive solo shot to left in the bottom of the seventh - to make it 8-1.

Meanwhile, Harrison cruised through his start limiting Stockton to only one run on three hits during his six-inning performance. The left-hander worked around one-out singles in the second and third innings before inducing a double play in the top of the fourth to pitch through a leadoff walk. Harrison finished his outing with back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth. He retired the final eight batters of his start.

Randy Rodriguez (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 SO) and Cole Waites (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO) then combined to throw three hitless innings of relief to seal the victory. Rodriguez set down all six hitters he faced during his appearance. Waites then entered to begin the top of the ninth and promptly struck out two in a row before issuing a walk to Nick Brueser. The two-out free pass snapped a string of 16 consecutive Ports batters retired by Giants pitching. Waites though came back with a strikeout of Joshwan Wright - San Jose's 14th punchout of game - to finish the contest.

GIANTS NOTES

Home Runs

The Giants' four homers on Wednesday was one off their single-game season-high (five homers on June 12 at Stockton). San Jose has now hit 56 home runs in 26 games versus the Ports this year (16-10 record). The Giants' 136 home runs for the season is seven shy of matching the single-season team record (143 HR in 2005).

Inside The Box Score

The Giants out-hit the Ports by an 8-3 margin. Stockton had only two at-bats the entire game with a runner in scoring position (0-for-2). Yorlis Rodriguez (2-for-4, 2B, HR, RBI) had San Jose's only multi-hit game.

Harrison Shines

Kyle Harrison retired 17 of the 21 batters he faced on Wednesday to pick-up the win. Harrison struck out eight and walked only one during his six innings pitched. Over his last six starts, Harrison has fashioned a sparkling 1.05 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings (3 ER allowed).

In The 'Pen

Randy Rodriguez extended his scoreless inning streak to 22 - the longest by a Giants pitcher this season. Cole Waites has still not allowed a hit in 7 1/3 innings pitched with San Jose this year.

Homestand Update

The Giants improved to 5-3 on their current homestand (4-2 vs. Visalia, 1-1 vs. Stockton).

Roster Moves

The Giants added three pitchers to their active roster before the game on Wednesday. 2021 first round draft pick Will Bednar has joined San Jose from the Arizona Complex League (Rookie-level). Bednar was the College World Series Most Outstanding Player with Mississippi State earlier this year before the SF Giants selected him with the 14th overall pick. Pitcher Tristan Beck was also added to the roster after a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League. Beck, who began the year in the Double-A Richmond starting rotation before going on the injured list, made six starts for San Jose late in the 2019 season (2.27 ERA). Pitcher Jesus Tona also returned to the Giants after a brief stint with Triple-A Sacramento.

On Deck

The Giants and Ports continue their series on Thursday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 6:30 PM. Prelander Berroa is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

Check out the San Jose Giants Statistics



California League Stories from September 8, 2021


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent San Jose Giants Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central