Giants Erupt for Season-High 16 Runs in Blowout Win
September 10, 2021 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
The San Jose Giants achieved a new season-high in runs scored with a 16-6 blowout victory over the Stockton Ports on Thursday night at Excite Ballpark. Luis Toribio and Yorlis Rodriguez smacked home runs while the Giants batted around in back-to-back innings en route to the convincing win. San Jose (69-42) has now claimed two of the first three games in the series against Stockton.
With Thursday's victory, the Giants' magic number to clinch a postseason berth now stands at two. San Jose remained seven games ahead of third-place Rancho Cucamonga in the race for the final Low-A West playoff spot with only nine games left in the regular season.
Stockton enjoyed an early lead in the contest as Oakland A's outfielder Seth Brown, who began a rehab assignment on Thursday, led off the game with a home run off of Giants starter Prelander Berroa. Berroa though responded with three strikeouts in the inning to prevent further damage before registering two more punchouts in a scoreless top of the second.
San Jose then rallied for four runs in the bottom of the second as the first six hitters of the inning reached base safely. A walk to Ghordy Santos started the frame before Luis Matos was hit by a pitch and Carter Williams walked to load the bases. Grant McCray was up next and he singled sharply into left plating Santos with the tying run. Jimmy Glowenke then worked a bases loaded walk to force home the go-ahead tally before Najee Gaskins stepped to the plate and singled up the middle scoring both Williams and McCray for a 4-1 advantage.
The Giants added to their lead in the bottom of the third as Patrick Bailey led off with a ringing double off the center field wall. Then with two down, Williams blooped a single into left center to score Bailey with the fifth San Jose run of the game.
Toribio then went deep in the bottom of the fourth to stretch the lead to 7-1. Glowenke started the inning with a single and then with one out, Toribio stepped up and launched a mammoth 439-foot two-run home run to deep right. The homer was Toribio's seventh of the season.
Meanwhile, Berroa had settled in and yielded only one run over the first four innings. The Ports though would rally in the top of the fifth to knock Berroa out of the game. Consecutive singles from Sahid Valenzuela and Brown started the inning before Zack Gelof worked a full-count walk to load the bases. T.J. Schofield-Sam followed with a sacrifice fly to center bringing home Valenzuela to make it 7-2 and chase Berroa. Wilkelma Castillo was summoned from the bullpen and he induced a weak grounder to shortstop off the bat of Kevin Richards. However, Santos threw wildly to first on the play for an error. Richards was credited with one RBI as Brown scored while the miscue allowed Gelof to also come across trimming the San Jose lead to 7-4. Stockton would get no closer though as Castillo recovered with consecutive strikeouts of Nick Brueser and CJ Rodriguez to retire the side.
Castillo returned to the mound in the top of the sixth and fanned two more in a scoreless frame before the Giants offense produced another big inning in the bottom half. After the first two batters of the bottom of the sixth were set down, the next six hitters reached safely with five coming home to score runs. Toribio began the rally with a walk before Rodriguez belted a two-run home run to left for a 9-4 cushion. The home run was Rodriguez's fourth with San Jose this season.
The inning continued as Bailey walked and took second on a wild pitch. Santos then produced an RBI single to make it 10-4. After Matos walked, Williams laced a two-run double into the right center gap plating two more stretching the lead to 12-4.
The Ports responded with two runs of their own in the top of the seventh off of Abel Adames as Gelof led off with a double and eventually scored on a Rodriguez sacrifice fly. Junior Perez then delivered a two-out RBI single to bring Stockton to within 12-6. The Giants' onslaught though would continue with a four-run bottom of the inning to complete the scoring for the night. With one out, Gaskins and Toribio drew back-to-back walks before Rodriguez singled to load the bases. Bailey was up next and he belted his second double of the game off the center field wall as two runs came home. Santos followed with a single into right plating two more to make it 16-6.
Jesus Tona then finished the game for San Jose with two scoreless innings over the eighth and ninth.
GIANTS NOTES
Season-High 16 Runs
The 16 runs were a season-high for the Giants, eclipsing their previous high mark of 14 runs (accomplished three times). San Jose was an outstanding 9-for-15 (.600 AVG) with runners in scoring position on Thursday. The Giants also drew a season-high 10 walks.
Rodriguez Homers Again
Yorlis Rodriguez (2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI) homered for the second straight game. Rodriguez has hit three home runs during the homestand.
Climbing The Charts
With two homers on Thursday, the Giants have now connected for 139 home runs this season - tied for second-most in San Jose Giants history with the 2011 team. The 2005 Giants club holds the record with 143 home runs.
Hitting Standouts
Patrick Bailey finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI's to raise his season batting average to .327. In addition to Rodriguez, Ghordy Santos (2-for-4, 3 RBI) and Carter Williams (2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI) had two hits apiece. Luis Toribio (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI) and Najee Gaskins (1-for-5, 2 RBI) also drove in two runs each. The Giants out-hit the Ports 13-11.
On The Mound
Prelander Berroa pitched 4 1/3 innings in his start with four runs (three earned) allowed. Berroa surrendered six hits, walked three and struck out six during his 86-pitch outing. Wilkelma Castillo (3-0) was credited with the win after striking out four batters in his 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.
Nearing Strikeout Record
The Giants pitching staff collected 13 strikeouts in Thursday's victory. San Jose now has a Minor League-leading 1,337 strikeouts for the year - nine away from setting the single-season team record. The 2015 Giants pitching staff holds the record with 1,345 strikeouts.
Homestand Update
The Giants improved to 6-3 on their current homestand (4-2 vs. Visalia, 2-1 vs. Stockton).
On Deck
The Giants and Ports continue their series on Friday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 6:30 PM. Carson Ragsdale is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher. The Giants can clinch a playoff spot on Friday with a win and a Rancho Cucamonga loss.
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California League Stories from September 10, 2021
- Skid Reaches Three as Ports Blanked by Giants - Stockton Ports
- Quakes Hang on and Take Third Straight in Series - Inland Empire 66ers
- Grizzlies at Nuts Games Cancelled - Fresno Grizzlies
- Weekend Series Cancelled - Modesto Nuts
- Rawhide Take Down Storm in Extra-Innings - Visalia Rawhide
- Giants Erupt for Season-High 16 Runs in Blowout Win - San Jose Giants
- Ports Can't Slow Giants' Bats, Drop Second Straight - Stockton Ports
- Quakes Take Another Nail-Biter - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
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