CalL San Jose Giants

Giants Drop Second Straight to Grizzlies

May 6, 2021 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


For the second straight night, the San Jose Giants fell behind early to the Fresno Grizzlies and were unable to recover in a 10-4 loss on Wednesday at Excite Ballpark. Fresno built a 5-0 lead after 3 1/2 innings and ultimately cruised to the victory behind a balanced offensive attack and an effective outing from starting pitcher Mike Ruff.

The Giants continued to struggle defensively early in the game as San Jose committed three errors over the first three innings for the second consecutive contest. Giants starter Ryan Murphy began the night in impressive fashion by setting down five straight Grizzlies hitters before his own throwing error on a slowly hit grounder off the bat of Drew Romo in the top of the second put a runner into scoring position. Fresno would immediately make San Jose pay for the miscue as Grant Lavigne followed with a single through the hole on the right side to bring home Romo with the first run.

Two more Giants errors in the top of the third then led to a pair of runs as the Grizzlies extended their lead to 3-0. With one out, Cristopher Navarro blooped a double into shallow right to start the rally. Leadoff batter Daniel Montano then hit a sharp grounder that skipped under the glove and through the legs of San Jose first baseman Tyler Flores for an error. The misplay allowed Navarro to score for a 2-0 advantage. Ezequiel Tovar then reached safely on a throwing error committed by second baseman Jimmy Glowenke to put another runner on base before Zac Veen's sacrifice fly made it 3-0.

Fresno kept the pressure on with two more runs in the fourth as Colin Simpson led off with a single, advanced to second on a passed ball and came home on a Mateo Gil single. After Romo doubled and Lavigne struck out, Bladimir Restituyo produced a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 5-0.

Manwhile, the Giants managed only two singles - an Alex Canario base hit in the bottom of the second and a Harrison Freed single in the third - over the first four innings against Ruff. Down by five runs, San Jose finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth. A leadoff bunt single from Flores started the rally before Glowenke lined a one-out single into left to put runners on first and second. Marco Luciano then stepped to the plate and belted a double off the center field wall bringing home both Flores and Glowenke to cut the deficit to 5-2.

Listen to Luciano's two-run double here:

The Giants had a chance to add further in the bottom of the fifth as Luis Matos followed by reaching on an error to bring the potential tying run to the plate, however Casey Schmitt popped out and Ricardo Genoves flied out to end the inning. San Jose would get no closer.

A walk and another Giants error in the seventh put two aboard for Fresno before Simpson's two-out, two-RBI single stretched the Grizzlies lead to 7-2. Then in the top of the ninth, two hits and an intentional walk loaded the bases with one out before Gil's RBI groundout and Romo's two-run triple broke the game wide open as Fresno increased their advantage to 10-2.

San Jose would push across a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth, but still fell well short. Freed drew a leadoff walk and Glowenke doubled to put runners on second and third. Freed eventually scored on a passed ball while Glowenke came across on a Matos sacrifice fly to bring the final margin to 10-4.

GIANTS NOTES

Defensive Struggles

The Giants have committed seven errors over the first two games. Six of the seven errors have come in the first three innings each night. On Wednesday, four of the ten runs allowed by San Jose pitching were unearned.

Hitting Leaders

Jimmy Glowenke (2-for-4, 2B) and Alex Canario (2-for-3, 2B) had multi-hit games for the Giants on Wednesday. Canario has four hits in his first five at-bats this season. Three of those hits have gone for extra bases (two doubles, one triple). Luciano's two-run double were his first two RBI's with San Jose.

On The Mound

Ryan Murphy, a fifth round pick in 2020, was making his professional debut on Wednesday. He worked four innings to begin the game and allowed five runs (three earned). The right-hander gave up five hits, walked none and struck out four. Kanoa Pagan followed with two scoreless innings of relief (1 H, 1 BB, 2 SO) before Luis Moreno pitched the final three innings (5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO).

Inside The Box Score

Fresno out-hit San Jose by an 11-8 margin. Eight of the nine players in the Grizzlies lineup had at least one hit. Mike Ruff picked-up the win for Fresno after tossing five innings with two runs allowed. He walked one and struck out four.

Two-Out RBI's

Fresno collected five two-out RBI's on Wednesday. Conversely, the Giants are 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position over the first two games.

On Deck

The Giants continue their season-opening series against Fresno on Thursday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 6:30 PM. Carson Ragsdale is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

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California League Stories from May 6, 2021


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