Giants Bounce Back with 8-5 Victory over Rawhide
April 13, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
SAN JOSE, CA - The San Jose Giants bounced back from their first loss of the season with an 8-5 victory over the Visalia Rawhide on Tuesday evening at Municipal Stadium. San Jose (2-1) scored twice in the bottom of the first inning to take the early lead and never trailed en route to the win.
Chris Shaw (3-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Aramis Garcia (3-for-4, RBI) each knocked out three hits and drove home a run to lead the Giants offensively. Johneshwy Fargas (1-for-3, 3B, 2 RBI) added a key two-run triple as San Jose evened their series with Visalia at a game apiece.
Giants starting pitcher Jordan Johnson (1-0) earned the win in his season debut. Johnson worked five innings and surrendered three runs (all earned) on five hits. The right-hander struck out five and did not issue a walk. Rodolfo Martinez pitched a scoreless top of the ninth inning to pick-up his second save of the year.
San Jose jumped on Rawhide starting pitcher Ethan Elias in the bottom of the first. A one-out single from Steven Duggar started the rally before C.J Hinojosa drew a walk. Shaw then stepped to the plate and ripped a double down the right field line to plate Duggar with the first run of the contest. Garcia followed with a line drive single into left center to score Hinojosa for a 2-0 cushion.
Visalia answered in the top of the second against Johnson as Grant Heyman doubled to leadoff and scored two batters later on Henry Castillo's one-out single. The two hits though marked the only baserunners against Johnson over the first three innings as the Giants starter retired nine out of the first 11 Rawhide hitters of the game.
San Jose then erupted with two outs in the bottom of the third inning to extend their lead. Three straight two-out singles from Shaw, Garcia and Jose Vizcaino, Jr. produced the first run of the frame. Fargas then belted a triple off the fence in deep left center plating two more runs to make it 5-1.
Once more, Visalia immediately responded as Rudy Flores led off the top of the fourth against Johnson with a home run to right center field. Then with two outs, Cody Regis delivered an RBI double to trim the Giants lead to 5-3. Johnson though recovered to limit the damage in the inning before finishing his night with a 1-2-3 top of the fifth.
San Jose pushed across one run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 6-3 as Fargas walked with one out, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored when Jonah Arenado singled.
Meanwhile, Martin Agosta (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) worked two scoreless innings of relief over the sixth and seventh. Agosta, who retired six out of the seven batters he faced, pitched around a leadoff single in the top of the sixth before tossing a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
The Giants then scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to push their lead to 8-3. Back-to-back one-out singles from Shaw and Garcia started the rally. Vizcaino, Jr. then grounded out to advance the runners to second and third. Fargas followed by striking out, but the pitch bounced away from catcher Tyler Baker allowing the hitter to reach and Shaw to score from third. Arenado was up next and in the middle of his at-bat, Fargas was picked-off at first. However, while Fargas was caught in a rundown between first and second, Garcia raced home from third base and crossed home plate with the second run of the inning just before Visalia tagged out Fargas on the bases.
Reyes Moronta (1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) pitched the top of the eighth for San Jose and surrendered a pair of unearned runs. The Rawhide took advantage of two Giants errors and two Moronta wild pitches to score twice trimming the lead to 8-5. Visalia though would get no closer as Martinez (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) pitched around a one-out double in the top of the ninth to seal the victory. The game ended when Ericson Leonora lined into a double play to shortstop.
Elias (0-1) suffered the loss after yielding six runs (all earned) on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.
Notes:
* San Jose out-hit Visalia 12-9.
* The Giants were 6-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
* Fargas has three triples in his first three games of the season. He had two triples in 181 career games entering this season.
* Shaw's first-inning double was his first hit of the season (started 0-for-8).
* Eight Giants starters had at least one hit on Tuesday.
* Visalia (4-1) suffered their first loss of the season.
On Deck: The Giants and Rawhide play the rubber game of their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon at Municipal Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 PM. Mark Reyes (0-0, --- ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Visalia is expected to counter with Josh Taylor (0-0, 1.59 ERA). Tickets are available and can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com.
California League Stories from April 13, 2016
- Rawhide Power Past Giants in Series Finale, 8-4 - San Jose Giants
- Ericson Leonora Fuels Offense with Two Long Balls - Visalia Rawhide
- Nuts Tie It Late, Fall 4-3 in Extras - Modesto Nuts
- Petty Wallops Nuts in 13th, 4-3 - Bakersfield Blaze
- Sixers Drop Third Straight One-Run Game, Fall to 0-6 - Inland Empire 66ers
- Giants Bounce Back with 8-5 Victory over Rawhide - San Jose Giants
- Diaz with Big Night in Rancho's 6-5 Win over Inland Empire - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Unearned Runs Sink Ports in 3-1 Loss - Stockton Ports
- Solid Arms Carry JetHawks to Series Win - Lancaster JetHawks
- Sloppy Defense Dooms Blaze in 13-3 Defeat - Bakersfield Blaze
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.
