CalL San Jose Giants

Giants Fall In 10 Innings To Ports

Published on August 31, 2022 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


The San Jose Giants opened their final road series of the regular season on Tuesday night with a 7-6, 10-inning loss to the host Stockton Ports at Banner Island Ballpark. The Giants battled back late as Victor Bericoto's two-out RBI double in the top of the ninth inning tied the game, but the Ports ultimately prevailed on Daniel Susac's walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 10th. The setback snapped San Jose's (67-54, 27-28 second half) three-game winning streak.

A flurry of roster moves preceded Tuesday's game as eight newcomers joined the Giants from the Arizona Complex League (Rookie-level). San Jose rallied to tie the contest on three separate occasions, but never enjoyed the lead as Stockton claimed the opener of the six-game series. Bericoto (2-for-3, 2 RBI) and Wade Meckler (2-for-4, 2 2B, SB) had two hits apiece to lead the Giants offensively in defeat.

The Ports took an early 1-0 lead when Junior Perez began the bottom of the first with a home run to center off of San Jose starter Nick Sinacola. The Giants though immediately answered with a run of their own in the top of the second to tie the game. With one out, Adrian Sugastey hit a double into the left center gap before Diego Velasquez, in his first at-bat in the California League, lined a single into center to put runners on the corners. Yorlis Rodriguez followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home Sugastey.

An error and an unusual rundown play, however, led to a pair of Stockton runs in the bottom of the second as the Ports reclaimed the lead. A leadoff single from Tommy Stevenson and a one-out walk to Dereck Salom put runners on first and second for Stockton. Cooper Uhl then hit a slow grounder to the right side, but first baseman Logan Wyatt's throw to Sinacola covering first was low and skipped into foul territory. The error allowed Stevenson to score the go-ahead run while Salom advanced all the way to third. Uhl attempted to take second on the miscue but got caught in a rundown. Uhl was eventually tagged out, however during the rundown, Salom was able to also score to make it 3-1 Ports.

San Jose got one run back in the top of the third as Aeverson Arteaga was hit by a pitch with one out, advanced to second on a Wyatt groundout and scored when Bericoto lined a single into center. In the bottom of the inning though Danny Bautista hit a one-out double moved to third on Susac's infield single and scored on a fielder's choice to give Stockton back their two-run lead at 4-2.

The Giants would again rally to tie the game plating two runs in the top of the fifth to draw even. Rayner Santana led off with a double before Meckler, who was also making his San Jose debut, doubled to deep left putting runners on second and third. Arteaga was up next and he lined a single into left plating Santana to bring the Giants within 4-3. Three batters later, Meckler would score the tying run when Sugastey reached on a fielder's choice to make it 4-4.

The back-and-forth affair continued though with a two-run bottom of the fifth as the Ports went back in front. Perez reached on an error to leadoff before Caeden Trenkle drew a walk. After Bautista's sacrifice bunt, Susac blasted a double to deep right center that scored both runners giving Stockton a 6-4 lead and ending Sinacola's night.

San Jose wouldn't manage a hit from the sixth through the eighth innings, but remained behind by only two runs thanks to the dominant work of the bullpen. Yoniel Ramirez retired all five batters he faced for the Giants before Willian Suarez struck out five over two perfect innings in the seventh and eighth.

A two-run rally in the top of the ninth for San Jose would then tie the game. Pinch-hitter Damon Dues started the inning with a single to left before Meckler doubled down the right field line to put runners on second and third. After Arteaga lined out to right, Wyatt's groundout to second brought home Dues to trim the Ports lead to 6-5. Bericoto was up next and with the Giants down to their final out, he lined a double over the head of the center fielder Trenkle that scored Meckler tying the game at 6-6.

Stockton had a chance to win in the bottom of the ninth against Ben Madison as Uhl walked with one out before Jhoan Paulino singled. Then with two down, Trenkle lined a single into shallow center, however Suarez's throw nailed the pinch-runner T.J. Schofield-Sam at the plate to end the inning and force extras.

San Jose was unable to take advantage of their free runner at second base in the top of the 10th as Velasquez flied out to shallow left, Rodriguez struck out and Suarez flied out to end the inning. The Ports then capitalized on their automatic runner in the bottom of the inning to win the game in walk-off fashion. A strikeout of Bautista started the frame, but Madison then uncorked a wild pitch advancing Trenkle to third before Susac hit a high chopper over the drawn-in Arteaga at shortstop for the game-winning single.

GIANTS NOTES

Inside The Box Score: Both teams finished the game with nine hits. The Giants were 4-for-18 with runners in scoring position compared to 4-for-10 for Stockton. Nick Sinacola pitched 4 1/3 innings in his start with six runs (three earned) allowed. He gave up six hits, walked three and struck out three. Only three of the seven runs allowed by San Jose were earned.

In The 'Pen: The Giants bullpen trio of Yoniel Ramirez, Willian Suarez and Ben Madison combined to pitch the final five innings with no earned runs allowed and nine strikeouts.

Losing Month: Tuesday's defeat clinched a losing record for the Giants in August. San Jose is now 11-14 in August with only one game remaining. It marks the first losing month for a Giants team since August 2019.

Promotions: Pitchers Trevor McDonald and Hunter Dula along with infielder Hayden Cantrelle were promoted to High-A Eugene before the game on Tuesday. McDonald fashioned a 2.39 ERA with 102 strikeouts in 90 1/3 innings for the Giants this season. Dula leads the club in saves (7) and appearances (35) while Cantrelle batted .279 with five doubles, two homers and a .450 on-base percentage in 35 games for San Jose.

Newcomers: The Giants added eight players to their roster from the Complex League on Tuesday. Five of the new additions are players from the San Francisco Giants 2022 draft class: LHP Carson Whisenhunt (2nd round), RHP Will Kempner (3rd round), C Zach Morgan (7th round), OF Wade Meckler (8th round) and LHP John Michael Bertrand (10th round). OF P.J. Hilson, INF Logan Wyatt and INF Diego Velasquez have also joined the Giants. Meckler doubled twice and had a stolen base in his California League debut on Tuesday. Velasquez went 1-for-4 with a single while Wyatt was hitless in his five at-bats. Hilson also made an appearance as a pinch-runner in the top of the 10th inning.

Playoff Race: The Giants (67-54) remained six games ahead of Modesto (61-60) in the race for the second-best overall record in the North Division. 11 games are left in the regular season. If Fresno wins the second half in the North (currently three games ahead of Modesto), the club with the second-best overall record in the division will qualify for the playoffs.

On Deck: The Giants and Ports continue their series on Wednesday evening with first pitch at Banner Island Ballpark set for 7:05 PM. Seth Lonsway is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

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California League Stories from August 31, 2022


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