Giants Erupt Late in 12-5 Victory over Ports
May 18, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
STOCKTON, CA - The San Jose Giants scored seven runs over the final two innings to break open a close game en route to a 12-5 victory over the Stockton Ports on Tuesday evening at Banner Island Ballpark. San Jose (21-15), which finished the contest with 15 hits, improved their record to 8-0 against Stockton this season.
Brandon Bednar (4-for-5) had four hits while C.J Hinojosa (3-for-6, 2B, RBI) added three hits and an RBI to lead the Giants offensive attack. Aramis Garcia (2-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI) and Jonah Arenado (1-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI) also each drove in three runs while Steven Duggar (1-for-4, HR, RBI) blasted his fifth home run of the season.
San Jose trailed early by a 2-1 score before scoring twice in the top of the third to take the lead for good. With one out, Duggar crushed the first pitch of his at-bat over the fence in deep right center for a solo home run. The rally continued when Hinojosa followed with a single before Arenado reached on an error to put runners on first and second. Jose Vizcaino, Jr. was up next and he hammered a double off the fence in left center plating Hinojosa for a 3-2 Giants lead.
Martin Agosta started on the mound for San Jose and recovered after surrendering a two-out, two-run homer to Stockton's Joe Bennie in the bottom of the first. Agosta tossed a 1-2-3 second inning before pitching around a one-out error and two-out walk in the third. Alex Glenn tripled with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, but Agosta came back to set down the next hitter to end the inning and keep the one-run lead intact.
Both teams then scored a single run in the fifth. In the top half, Vizcaino, Jr. walked with two outs and immediately scored when the next batter, Garcia, smacked a double into the left center field gap. The Ports though answered in the bottom of the inning against Agosta. Jose Brizuela led off with a single for Stockton. James Harris then doubled to deep left center, but the Giants perfectly executed a relay home and threw out Brizuela, who was attempting to score from first. Harris did advance to third on the throw home and scored when the next batter, Melvin Mercedes, reached on an error. Agosta though limited the damage in the inning when John Nogowski followed by grounding into a 5-4-3 double play.
San Jose pushed their lead to 5-3 with a run in the top of the sixth. Bednar led off with a single before moving to second on a Paulino bunt single. Bednar then took third when Stockton reliever Cody Stull was unable to handle the throw on Paulino's bunt. Ronnie Jebavy was up next and he lifted a sacrifice fly to center plating Bednar for a two-run cushion.
Jose Reyes (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) retired six out of the seven batters he faced out of the bullpen over the sixth and seventh innings to maintain the 5-3 Giants lead before San Jose erupted in the eighth.
Consecutive singles from Bednar and Paulino began the eighth-inning rally for the Giants. Jebavy followed with a sacrifice bunt, but reached safely when Ports pitcher Rob Huber threw the ball away down the right field line. The error allowed Bednar to score for a 6-3 San Jose lead while Paulino moved to third and Jebavy advanced to second. Duggar then walked to load the bases and after Hinojosa struck out, Arenado stepped to the plate and grounded a two-RBI double down the left field line. Two batters later, Garcia laced a two-out single into left scoring two more runs to make it 10-3.
Reyes Moronta (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO) struck out two in a scoreless bottom of the eighth before the Giants plated two more runs in the ninth. Bednar led off another run-scoring rally with a single before a two-out walk to Duggar. A pair of wild pitches then allowed one run to come home before Hinojosa capped the San Jose scoring with an RBI double to deep left.
Stockton scored twice in the bottom of the ninth against Jeff Soptic (1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) on three singles and a walk to bring the final score to 12-5.
Agosta (2-0) earned the win after tossing five innings with three runs (all earned) and five hits allowed. He walked one and struck out one during his 73-pitch outing.
Vizcaino, Jr. (2-for-5, 2B, RBI) and Paulino (2-for-4, SB) also had multi-hit games for the Giants.
Notes:
* San Jose's 12 runs scored was one shy of their season-high (13 runs at Stockton on May 3).
* The Giants have outscored the Ports 54-22 this season (eight games).
* Bednar extended his hitting streak to seven games. He's batting at a .444 clip (12-for-27) during the hit streak.
* San Jose out-hit Stockton 15-9.
* Garcia (hamstring) was activated off the disabled list before the game. Prior to Tuesday, he last played on May 8. Catcher Ben Turner was transferred to Richmond (AA).
* Duggar hit his first home run since April 17. He hit four homers in his first eight games this season.
On Deck: The Giants and Ports continue their three-game series on Wednesday evening with first pitch at Banner Island Ballpark scheduled for 7:10 PM. Sam Coonrod (2-1, 1.32 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Stockton is expected to counter with Casey Meisner (0-5, 4.41 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:40 PM.
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