CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Complete Sweep of Blaze with 6-2 Victory

Published on May 10, 2013 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


BAKERSFIELD - Chris Marlowe allowed one run over six innings and Jeff Arnold homered for the third time in the series leading the San Jose Giants to a 6-2 victory over the Bakersfield Blaze on Thursday evening at Sam Lynn Ballpark. San Jose earned a sweep of the three-game set and extended their road winning streak to eight.

Marlowe (2-0) surrendered just five hits with one walk and three strikeouts during his stint on the mound to pick-up the win.

Arnold (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI), who homered twice in Tuesday's series-opener, hit his sixth round-tripper of the season to lead the Giants offensive attack. Devin Harris (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI), Mac Williamson (2-for-3, 2B, RBI), Bobby Haney (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Chris Lofton (2-for-5, SB) added two hits apiece.

San Jose jumped out to quick 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first against Blaze starting pitcher Carlos Contreras. Lofton started the game with a single up the middle before stealing second. After a walk to Myles Schroder, Shawn Payne flied out to right to advance the runners to second and third. Harris followed with a sacrifice fly to center plating Lofton with the first run of the night. Williamson was up next and he ripped an RBI double off the wall in left center to make it 2-0.

Marlowe began his outing with five scoreless innings as the Giants maintained their 2-0 lead. Bakersfield threatened in the bottom of the second as Dominic D'Anna drew a leadoff walk before Ryan Wright doubled with two outs to put runners on second and third, but Yovan Gonzalez flied out to right to end the inning.

Marlowe then set down the Blaze 1-2-3 in the third and fourth innings and had retired eight straight hitters until Wright singled with one out in the fifth. Gonzalez though followed by grounding into an inning-ending double play. Marlowe needed only 54 pitches to work through the first five innings.

Meanwhile, San Jose didn't manage another hit after Williamson's first-inning double until Payne singled with one out in the top of the sixth. A botched pick-off attempt moved Payne to third before Harris clubbed an RBI double to make it 3-0. After Williamson struck out, Arnold stepped to the plate and launched a two-run home run down the left field line for a 5-0 advantage.

The sixth-inning rally continued as Elliott Blair followed the home run by drawing a walk before Haney smacked an RBI double into the left field corner to extend the lead to 6-0.

Bakersfield finally broke through against Marlowe in the bottom of the sixth as Juan Silva led off with a double and scored on Juan Silverio's one-out double. Trailing 6-1, the Blaze had runners at second and third with one out, but Marlowe struck out D'Anna and set down Juan Duran on a fly out to right to limit the damage in the inning.

Jeff Soptic (2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) pitched the seventh and eighth innings out of the Giants bullpen. Soptic worked around a leadoff single in the seventh to keep Bakersfield off the scoreboard before allowing an unearned run in the eighth. With one out, Marquez Smith drew a walk and then Silverio belted a double off the wall in right. The hit moved Smith to third and when Williamson bobbled the ball for an error, the runner raced home to cut the lead to 6-2. The Blaze though wouldn't manage another baseunner for the remainder of the game as Soptic set down the next two hitters before Josh Osich (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth.

Contreras (1-4) suffered the loss after yielding five runs (all earned) on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. Contreras walked three and struck out six.

Notes: The Giants outscored Bakersfield 22-6 during the three-game series ... San Jose has won four consecutive games ... The eight-game road winning streak is tied for the second-longest in team history ... The 1995 team also won eight straight road games ... The club record is 16 consecutive road wins held by the 2011 team ... The Giants out-hit the Blaze by an 11-7 margin ... Williamson extended his hitting streak to seven games ... Marlowe ranks second in the California League with a 1.69 ERA ... Arnold's six home runs matches a career-high (hit six with Augusta in 2011) ... Bakersfield has lost eight in a row ... San Jose (23-11) is one game ahead of the Visalia Rawhide (22-12) for first place in the North Division.

On Deck: The Giants return home on Friday evening to begin a four-game series against the High Desert Mavericks. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Kelvin Marte (0-0, 2.00 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while High Desert is expected to counter with Cam Hobson (3-2, 4.65 ERA). It's a KRTY Family Friday at the ballpark and a spectacular fireworks show presented by the San Jose Water Company will follow the game. Tickets can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com. The game will also be televised live on Comcast Hometown Network, Channel 104.

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California League Stories from May 10, 2013


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