Giants Bid for Perfect Road Trip Falls Short
August 31, 2015 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA - San Jose's bid for a perfect road trip fell short Sunday night as Rancho Cucamonga used a five-run fourth inning and a three-run bottom of the seventh to post an 8-3 victory over the Giants at LoanMart Field. The loss snapped San Jose's seven-game winning streak, but the Giants still took two out of three in the series against the Quakes and finished their seven-game Southern California road trip with a 6-1 record.
San Jose (69-64 overall, 39-24 second half) enters the final week of the regular season with a three-game lead over Modesto (66-67) in the North Division Wild Card. The Giants are also tied with Visalia (39-24) in the second half race. Seven games remain in the regular season.
Ryder Jones (2-for-4, 2B) and Tyler Horan (2-for-4, RBI) finished with two hits apiece while Daniel Carbonell (1-for-4, HR, RBI) smacked a solo home run to lead San Jose offensively on Sunday.
The Giants enjoyed an early 2-0 lead after scoring single runs in the third and fourth innings. In the top of the third, Carbonell connected for a two-out solo homer to right center. The home run was Carbonell's fifth of the season. An inning later, Jones led off with a double, advanced to third on Brian Ragira's groundout and scored when Horan lined a single into right.
Jordan Johnson started on the mound for San Jose and began his night with three scoreless innings. Johnson allowed a one-out single in the bottom of the first, but induced the next hitter to ground into a double play. The Quakes were set down 1-2-3 in the second before Johnson pitched around a two-out walk in the third.
The Quakes then rallied in the bottom of the fourth with the first seven batters of the inning reaching base safely. Nate Somson led off with a double to deep left center before Jacob Scavuzzo grounded a single into right putting runners on the corners. Cody Bellinger followed with a line drive single into right plating Somson with the first run of the frame. After Tyler Ogle singled to load the bases, Willie Calhoun blooped a single into shallow center to score Scavuzzo tying the game 2-2. Josmar Cordero then hit a grounder to third that was misplayed by Jones for an error. Cordero was credited with an RBI as Bellinger raced home giving Rancho Cucamonga a 3-2 lead. With the bases loaded and still none out, Jeff Soptic (2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) was summoned from the bullpen and he promptly allowed an RBI single to Joey Curletta to make it 4-2. Spencer Navin then hit a sacrifice fly to right for the first out of the inning with Calhoun coming home for a 5-2 Quakes advantage. 10 batters came to the plate in the inning with Rancho Cucamonga scoring five runs on six hits.
Still down by three runs, the Giants mounted a rally in the top of the sixth. Consecutive singles from Angel Villalona and Jones started the frame before Ragira reached on a fielding error committed by the shortstop Samson to load the bases with none out. Horan then struck out swinging for the first out of the inning. Ty Ross followed with a grounder to third that was stopped by a diving Ogle. Ross was thrown out at first on the play with Villalona coming home to trim the Quakes lead to 5-3. With the potential tying runs in scoring position, Jeff Kobernus was up next, but he flied out to deep center ending the inning.
Luis Ysla (1 2/3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO) worked a scoreless bottom of the sixth for San Jose before running into trouble in the seventh. Scavuzzo led off with a double to left before moving to third when Bellinger grounded out. A walk to Ogle put runners on the corners and then Ysla uncorked a wild pitch allowing Scavuzzo to score the first run of the inning. Calhoun then walked before Cordero lined an RBI single into left. Curletta followed with a high fly ball to deep center that was lost in the lights by Seth Harrison for a double as another run scored to make it 8-3 Rancho Cucamonga.
In the top of the eighth, Villalona drew a leadoff walk, but the next three San Jose hitters were retired. In the ninth, Ross led off with a double before a one-out infield single from Harrison. The game ended though when Christian Arroyo grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.
David Reid-Foley (1-0) was credited with the win out of the Quakes bullpen. Reid-Foley pitched just one inning and allowed a single run in the top of the fourth. A.J. Vanegas made the spot-start for Rancho Cucamonga and worked the first three innings surrendering one run and two hits.
Johnson (2-2) suffered the loss after allowing five runs (all earned) on six hits over three innings. He walked one and did not record a strikeout.
Notes:
* The Giants fell one victory shy of matching their longest win streak of the season (eight games, May 19-27).
* Sunday's loss snapped San Jose's season-high eight-game road winning streak.
* The Giants finish with a 6-1 record against Rancho Cucamonga.
* Johnson had worked 15 consecutive scoreless innings prior to the five-run bottom of the fourth.
* The Quakes out-hit San Jose 12-8. The Giants were 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
* Jones' double was his team-leading 29th of the season.
* San Jose finish August with a 17-12 record.
On Deck: Following an off day, the Giants host Modesto in a pivotal three-game series at Municipal Stadium to close out the home schedule. First pitch for Tuesday's series opener is at 7:00 PM. Jason Forjet (6-4, 2.92 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while the Nuts are expected to counter with Alex Balog (3-6, 3.78 ERA). For tickets, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.
California League Stories from August 31, 2015
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- Ports Pound 66ers 10-1 in Series Finale - Stockton Ports
- Blaze Drop Sleepy Finale, 7-3 - Bakersfield Blaze
- Nuts Fall 2-1 in Wild Finish - Modesto Nuts
- Giants Bid for Perfect Road Trip Falls Short - San Jose Giants
- Quakes Top San Jose to Finish Home Stand - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Davis Powers Lancaster to Series Sweep - Lancaster JetHawks
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