CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Can't Hold Early Lead, Drop 10-9 Slugfest

Published on July 14, 2016 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


LANCASTER, CA - The San Jose Giants were unable to hold an early five-run lead Wednesday evening as the Lancaster JetHawks rallied for a 10-9 victory at The Hangar. Lancaster took the lead with an eight-run bottom of the third and the Giants (48-41) were unable to recover in dropping the opener of their eight-game Southern California road trip.

Cristian Paulino (3-for-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI, SB) and Jonah Arenado (3-for-5) had three hits apiece to lead the San Jose offensive attack in defeat. Jose Vizcaino, Jr. (2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI) added two hits, including his sixth home run of the season.

The Giants jumped out early taking a 5-0 lead after 2 1/2 innings. In the top of the second, Arenado led off by reaching on a two-base error committed by JetHawks first baseman Bryan Muniz. Then with two outs, Paulino laced a double down the left field line to plate Arenado with the first run of the contest.

San Jose then erupted for four runs in the top of the third. Robbie Garvey started the inning with a triple into the right center field gap. Ronnie Jebavy followed with a fly ball off the fence in straightaway center for another triple as Garvey easily scored. Ehire Adrianza was up next and he lifted a sacrifice fly to center bringing home Jebavy to make it 3-0. Then with two outs, Arenado restarted the rally with a single before Vizcaino crushed a two-run home run to left center for a 5-0 advantage.

Jason Forjet started on the mound for the Giants and began his night with two scoreless innings before running into trouble in the bottom of the third. Forjet plunked Drew Ferguson to start the third inning before Antonio Nunez walked. Leadoff batter Bobby Boyd then dropped down a bunt along the third base line. Vizcaino fielded the ball and made an accurate throw to first, but the first baseman Arenado ducked at the last moment as he lost the ball in the sun. Boyd was credited with a single on the play and when the ball rolled down the right field line, Ferguson came home with the first Lancaster run. Vizcaino was also charged with an error allowing the run to score. Johnny Sewald was up next and he launched a three-run home run down the right field line to cut the San Jose lead to 5-4. The home run was Sewald's third of the season.

The JetHawks' third-inning rally restarted when with one out, Muniz' fly ball to deep right center was dropped by Jebavy for a two-base error. Trent Woodward then singled to put runners on the corners. Back-to-back RBI singles from Jamie Ritchie and Brooks Marlow then gave Lancaster a 6-5 lead and ended Forjet's night. Dusten Knight was summoned from the bullpen, but he promptly allowed a two-run double to Ferguson to make the score 8-5.

The JetHawks sent 11 batters to the plate in the bottom of the third and scored eight runs on six hits while also taking advantage of two Giants errors.

San Jose answered with a run in the top of the fourth as Paulino led off with a single, stole second and scored on Jebavy's two-out single to right. Lancaster though came right back with two more runs against Knight (2 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) in the bottom of the fourth. Boyd led off with a double to right center and took third on a wild pickoff throw by Knight. Sewald then hit a sacrifice fly for a 9-6 margin. Muniz followed with a high fly ball to left that was dropped by Garvey for another error. It was the fourth Giants error in the last two innings, two of which were dropped fly balls by San Jose outfielders. Then with two outs, Ritchie delivered an RBI single scoring Muniz to make it 10-6.

The seesaw battle continued with a three-run top of the fifth for the Giants. Arenado singled with one out before T.J. Bennett drew a two-out walk. Paulino then smashed a double into the left field corner scoring both runners. Ty Ross followed with a single into right to plate Paulino bringing San Jose to within 10-9. The Giants though were unable to complete the comeback as they failed to score for the remainder of the game.

San Jose threatened in the top of the seventh as Arenado and Vizcaino produced back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second with none out. Bennett then flied out to the fence in deep center advancing Arenado, the potential tying run, to third. However, new JetHawks pitcher Jacob Dorris struck out Paulino and induced Ross to groundout to end the inning and keep the score at 10-9.

In the eighth, Adrianza blooped a two-out double into shallow left to again put the tying run into scoring position, but Dylan Davis followed with a fly out to halt the rally.

Dorris then recorded two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 top of the ninth to finish the contest.

Scott Weathersby (3-4) was credited with the win out of the Lancaster bullpen after pitching 2 1/3 innings with three runs (all earned) and six hits allowed. Dorris worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings with one hit surrendered, no walks and four strikeouts to notch his sixth save of the year.

Forjet (8-7) yielded a career-high eight runs (seven earned) on six hits over 2 1/3 innings to take the loss. He walked two and struck out three.

Knight, Jeff Soptic (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 0 SO) and Reyes Moronta (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO) combined to hold the JetHawks scoreless after the fourth inning.

Jebavy (2-for-5, 3B, 2 RBI) also had a multi-hit game for the Giants.

Notes: * Wednesday was the opener of a four-game series. * Lancaster's eight-run bottom of the third matched the most runs allowed by the Giants in an inning this season (third time). * The JetHawks were 7-for-12 (.583 AVG) with runners in scoring position. * San Jose out-hit Lancaster 14-11. * The start was Forjet's shortest of the season. He had pitched at least five innings in 13 out of his first 14 starts this year prior to Wednesday's game. * Paulino's stolen base was his team-leading 22nd of the season. * The Giants lost back-to-back games for the first time in July. * Adrianza (broken foot) finished 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI in the first game of his rehabilitation assignment. Wednesday was his first game since April 14. * Catcher Bryan Case was added to San Jose's roster from the AZL-Giants (Rookie) before the game on Wednesday.

On Deck: The Giants and JetHawks will next play a doubleheader on Thursday evening at The Hangar. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 5:05 PM. Phil Bickford (2-0, 1.59 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lancaster is expected to counter with Trent Thornton (5-4, 4.46 ERA). Jordan Johnson (6-6, 4.93 ERA) starts game two of the twinbill opposed by the JetHawks' Rogelio Armenteros (5-2, 2.67 ERA). Both contests will be seven innings in length and the Giants will be the home team in the second game (make-up of April 10 rainout at Municipal Stadium). Both games of the doubleheader can be heard live on sjgiants.com.

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California League Stories from July 14, 2016


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