CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Escape with Extra-Inning Win

Published on August 2, 2011 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN BERNARDINO - Gary Brown's two-out single in the top of the 10th inning scored the go-ahead run before Jacob Dunnington pitched out of a jam in the bottom of the frame to lift the San Jose Giants to a 2-1 victory over the Inland Empire 66ers on Monday evening at Arrowhead Credit Union Park. The game was scoreless until both teams plated a run in the ninth inning before Brown's single gave the Giants the lead for good in the 10th.

Inland Empire left 10 runners on base over the last five innings of the contest, including the bases loaded in the eighth and the potential winning run at third in the bottom of the ninth. The Giants bullpen combined to walk nine hitters over the final five frames, but allowed just one run.

Dunnington (2-0) picked-up the win despite a blown save and his first earned run allowed since joining San Jose. The reliever pitched the last two innings and surrendered one run on one hit with four walks and three strikeouts.

The Giants managed only four singles and had just one runner advance into scoring position over the first eight innings. San Jose finally broke through in the top of the ninth as after Ehire Adrianza grounded out, Ryan Cavan stepped to the plate and lined a double off the fence in left field. Jarrett Parker was up next and he singled sharply down the left field line to easily plate Cavan with the first run of the game.

Dunnington entered the contest to begin the bottom of the ninth and promptly issued a leadoff walk to David Harris. Steven Irvine then struck out swinging, but on the strike three pitch, Harris stole second. Jon Karcich then hammered the first pitch of his at-bat into the left center field gap for a double as Harris came home to tie the game 1-1. After Matt Long flied out, a wild pitch advanced Harris to third and Dwayne Bailey walked. However, Dunnington forced extra- innings by inducing the next hitter, Kole Calhoun, to pop out to second.

In the top of the 10th, Alex Burg led off with a first-pitch double to deep right center field. Burg advanced to third when Nick Liles grounded out, but was unable to score after the next hitter, James Simmons, bounced out weakly to second. Brown though came up and grounded a single through the hole on the left side of the infield plating Burg to give the Giants back the lead.

Dunnington returned to the mound in the bottom of the 10th and walked Eric Oliver to start the inning. A wild pitch moved Oliver to second with none out, but Dunnington recovered to strikeout Dillon Baird. After Jose Jimenez, who represented the potential winning run, was intentionally walked, Harris struck out swinging for the second out of the inning. Irvine was up next and on a 3-2 pitch, he grounded out to Adrianza at shortstop to end the game.

66ers reliever Mike Kenney (4-4) suffered the loss after surrendering the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th - his only inning of work.

Craig Westcott started on the mound for San Jose and tossed five scoreless innings with three hits allowed. Westcott walked one and struck out three. He threw 100 pitches during his stint on the mound.

Ari Ronick (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 SO) relieved Westcott to begin the bottom of the sixth and managed to keep Inland Empire off the scoreboard. A pair of walks and a double steal put runners on second and third with one out in the sixth for the 66ers. Oliver then hit a grounder to second that resulted in an unorthodox double play. Bailey, the lead runner, broke for the plate, but was eventually tagged out by the catcher Burg after a rundown. Burg then fired the ball to second and nailed Oliver, who was attempting to advance, to complete the double play and end the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, Ronick issued a one-out walk and allowed a two-out single, but set down Karcich on a line out to third base for the third out.

Stephen Harrold (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 SO) pitched the eighth and walked Bailey with one out before Calhoun singled and Oliver walked to load the bases. However, Inland Empire failed to score as Baird lined out sharply to second and Jimenez struck out swinging.

The 66ers finished the game 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. They left 13 runners on base.

Burg (2-for-4, 2B) and Liles (2-for-4) had two hits apiece to lead the Giants offensively. San Jose out-hit Inland Empire by an 8-6 margin. Brown (1-for-5, RBI) extended his hitting streak to 13 games with his 10th inning single.

Max Russell, who was making his California League debut after a promotion from Low-A Cedar Rapids, started on the mound for the 66ers and worked seven scoreless innings. Russell allowed three hits, walked two and struck out four.

Notes: The Giants improved to 5-3 in extra-inning games this season ... San Jose has won three games in a row and eight out of their last ten ... The three Giants relievers combined for five innings pitched with one run and three hits allowed, nine walks and five strikeouts ... Dunnington had not allowed an earned run in 16 innings with San Jose before Monday ... Brown's hitting streak is tied for the second-longest by a Giants player this season ... He has the longest with a 15-game streak from May 5-20 ... Tommy Joseph has missed the first two games of the series due to flu-like symptoms ... The Giants (72-35) are a season- high 37 games over .500 and boast the best record in Minor League Baseball among full-season teams.

On Deck: The Giants will look for a three-game sweep of the 66ers when the teams conclude their series on Tuesday morning. First pitch at Arrowhead Credit Union Park is scheduled for 11:00 AM. Andy Reichard (6-1, 3.07 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Inland Empire is expected to counter with Matt Oye (5-3, 5.40 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.

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