Giants Complete Four-Game Sweep of 66ers
August 28, 2015 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
SAN BERNARDINO, CA - The San Jose Giants scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back en route to a 7-3 victory over the Inland Empire 66ers on Thursday evening at San Manuel Stadium. Jose Reyes dazzled on the mound allowing just one run over a career-high tying eight innings as the Giants completed a sweep of the four-game series and won their fifth straight overall. San Jose (67-63 overall, 37-23 second half) remains tied with Visalia (37-23) for first place in the second half standings and two games ahead of Modesto (65-65) for the second Wild Card spot. 10 games remain in the regular season.
Aramis Garcia (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) and Daniel Carbonell (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI) both finished with two hits and two RBI's to lead a balanced Giants offensive attack. Jeff Kobernus (3-for-5, 2B, SB) added three hits from the leadoff spot while Tyler Horan (2-for-4, 2 2B) doubled twice and Brian Ragira (1-for-4, 2 RBI) contributed a key two-run single.
Reyes (4-6) surrendered five hits with one walk and six strikeouts during his 102-pitch performance to pick-up the win. Reyes retired 14 out of the last 15 batters he faced.
San Jose wasted no time jumping on Sixers starting pitcher Jordan Kipper as back-to-back two-out hits from Garcia and Ragira in the top of the first produced four runs. The game began with a double into the left field corner off the bat of Kobernus. Brandon Bednar was then hit by a pitch before Carbonell lined out to shortstop and Angel Villalona struck out swinging. Ryder Jones followed with a hard grounder up the middle that was stopped by a sliding Roberto Baldoquin, but his flip to second, in an effort to force out Bednar, was late. Jones was credited with an infield single as the bases were loaded. Garcia was up next and he lined a double down the left field line plating both Kobernus and Bednar with the first two runs. Moments later, Ragira lined a single into right scoring two more for a 4-0 advantage.
The Giants added to their lead with a single run in the top of the third. Carbonell led off with a bloop double down the right field line before moving to third on a passed ball. Villalona then grounded out to third with Carbonell coming home on the play to make it 5-0.
Reyes began his night with five strikeouts over three scoreless innings. The right-hander pitched around consecutive two-out singles in the bottom of the first striking out Kody Eaves on three pitches to end the threat. Reyes then struck out the side in the second before another punchout in the third. Inland Empire's only run against Reyes came in the bottom of the fourth as Eaves led off with a double, advanced to third on Andrew Daniel's fly out and scored when Baldoquin hit a sacrifice fly to center. The run trimmed the San Jose lead to 5-1.
The Giants though came right back with a two-run top of the fifth. Back-to-back singles from Kobernus and Bednar started the frame before a successful double steal put runners on second and third with none out. Carbonell then bounced a single into left plating both Kobernus and Bednar pushing the lead to 7-1.
Reyes dominated for the remainder of his outing. He set down the Sixers 1-2-3 in the fifth and the sixth innings on six and ten pitches respectively. Reyes then breezed through a perfect bottom of the seventh and had retired 12 straight Inland Empire batters until Quinten Davis singled to leadoff the bottom of the eighth. Davis though was promptly erased when the next batter, Bo Way, grounded into a double play. Reyes then finished his night with a strikeout of Tyler Palmer.
The 66ers rallied for a pair of runs against Ian Gardeck (1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) in the bottom of the ninth, but ultimately fell short. Three straight one-out singles from Brandon Bayardi, Eaves and Daniel produced the first run of the inning. Baldoquin then delivered an RBI groundout to make it 7-3, but Gardeck struck out the next hitter, Wade Wass, to finish the game.
Kipper (6-11) suffered the loss after yielding seven runs (six earned) on nine hits over five innings. He struck out five and walked none.
Notes:
* The Giants swept their first four-game series on the road since August 23-26, 2013 at Bakersfield.
* It was also the first time in team history that San Jose swept a four-game series in San Bernardino.
* During the four-game series, Giants starting pitchers (Jordan Johnson, Jason Forjet, Andrew Suarez and Reyes) combined to throw 25 2/3 innings with just two runs allowed (0.70 ERA).
* San Jose out-hit Inland Empire 13-8 on Thursday.
* Eight Giants starters finished with at least one hit.
* San Jose extended their road winning streak to a season-high six games.
* The Giants finish with an 11-4 record against the 66ers this season.
* San Jose has won 11 out of their last 15 games overall.
On Deck: The Giants continue their road trip on Friday evening with the opener of a three-game series against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. First pitch at LoanMart Field is scheduled for 7:05 PM. Martin Agosta (4-8, 4.84 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Rancho Cucamonga is expected to counter with Rob Rogers (5-4, 3.31 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM.
California League Stories from August 28, 2015
- San Jose Giants on Deck: Surging Giants Play Three-Game Series at Rancho Cucamonga - San Jose Giants
- Five-Run Fourth Sparks Ports to 8-2 Win - Stockton Ports
- Giants Complete Four-Game Sweep of 66ers - San Jose Giants
- Early Offense Sustains Nuts in 7-5 Win - Modesto Nuts
- Blaze Drop Suddenly Rare Pitchers' Duel, 4-1 - Bakersfield Blaze
- Dominant Paulino Cracks Quakes - Lancaster JetHawks
- Shaky Defense Sends Quakes to Loss in Lancaster - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
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