CalL San Jose Giants

Giants Drop Second Straight To Rancho, 4-1

Published on July 30, 2022 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


The San Jose Giants suffered their second straight loss to Rancho Cucamonga with a 4-1 setback to the Quakes on Friday night at Excite Ballpark. A scoreless game through six innings, Rancho Cucamonga rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh, taking advantage of two key San Jose errors in the frame on their way to victory. The Giants (54-40, 14-14 second half) and Quakes have now split the first games of their series this week.

Friday's contest began as a pitchers' duel with both starting pitchers excelling. San Jose's Manuel Mercedes tossed four scoreless innings in his outing with only one hit allowed. Meanwhile, Rancho right-hander River Ryan didn't allow a run over his five innings on the mound and retired the final 10 batters that he faced.

Mercedes cruised through the first two innings before pitching out of a bases loaded, none out jam in the top of the third. After two walks and a single put three runners on base for the Quakes in the third, Mercedes registered a strikeout of Jake Vogal and then induced Damon Keith to ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. Mercedes then finished his night with a scoreless top of the fourth pitching around a one-out walk.

Meanwhile, the Giants threatened early, but had a runner thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the first. Grant McCray led off with a single before Aeverson Arteaga blasted a double to the fence in deep left center. McCray attempted to score from first on Arteaga's hit, but was thrown out at home after a perfectly executed relay play by Rancho Cucamonga. Arteaga was ultimately stranded at third to end the inning.

In the bottom of the second, Anyesber Sivira doubled with two outs, but Ryan came back to strikeout Alexander Suarez to retire the side. Ryan then tossed three straight 1-2-3 innings over the third, fourth and fifth while San Jose wouldn't manage another hit until the bottom of the seventh.

San Francisco Giants right-hander Zack Littell worked a scoreless top of the fifth in the first appearance of his rehab assignment with San Jose. Littell struck out two and worked around a one-out double. Scott Alexander, another pitcher with major league experience, then kept the Quakes off the board in the top of the sixth to keep the game scoreless. Alexander allowed a two-out double to Yeiner Fernandez and then plunked Kenneth Betancourt, but bounced back to retire Hector Martinez on a groundout to end the inning.

Rancho Cucamonga though would rally in the top of the seventh. Melvin Adon entered from the Giants bullpen to begin the inning as Kyle Froemke led off with a fly ball down the right field line that was dropped by the right fielder Suarez for a two-base error. The miscue proved costly for San Jose as Javier Armas followed with a line drive single into right plating Froemke with the first run of the night. Armas was then at second with one out when Adon bounced a pitch in the dirt. Armas broke for third as catcher Adrian Sugastey quickly picked-up the ball, but his hurried throw bounced down the left field line for another error as a run scored to make it 2-0. A two-out RBI single from Yunior Garcia later in the inning then pushed the Quakes lead to 3-0.

Jared Dupere's one-out single in the bottom of the seventh was the Giants' first hit since the third inning, but San Jose wasn't able to take advantage. The Giants then finally broke through with a run in the bottom of the eighth. McCray singled with one out, stole second and then back-to-back walks to Arteaga and Carter Williams loaded the bases. Victor Bericoto was up next and he hit a sacrifice fly to deep left center as McCray scored bringing San Jose within 3-1. Arteaga also advanced to third on the play while Williams, the potential tying run, tagged and went to second. Both runners were stranded though as Sugastey struck out swinging to end the inning.

Rancho Cucamonga added an insurance tally in the top of the ninth off of JJ Santa Cruz on Betancourt's two-out RBI single as the Quakes reclaimed their three-run lead at 4-1. In the bottom of the ninth, Sivira singled with two outs, but Suarez followed by grounding out to end the game.

GIANTS NOTES

Bats Silenced: The Giants have been held to three runs over the last two games - both losses. San Jose is a combined 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position in the two contests (0-for-5 on Friday).

Hitting Streak Ends: Carter Williams went 0-for-2 with two walks on Friday as his hitting streak was snapped at 17 games. It's the longest hit streak by a Giants player this season. Williams did extend his on-base streak though as the outfielder has reached safely in all 35 games he's played with San Jose this year.

On The Mound: Manuel Mercedes struck out three and worked around four walks during his four-inning performance. The lone hit he allowed was a single to Austin Gauthier in the top of the third. Only one of the four runs surrendered by the Giants on Friday was earned.

Hitting Leaders: Grant McCray (2-for-4, SB) and Anyesber Sivira (2-for-4, 2B) had multi-hit games for the Giants in defeat. McCray has 12 hits in 19 at-bats (.632 AVG) over the first four games of the series. Aeverson Arteaga's (1-for-3, 2B) double was his team-leading 25th this season.

On Deck: The Giants and Quakes continue their series on Saturday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 6:00 PM. Eric Silva is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

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California League Stories from July 30, 2022


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