CalL San Jose Giants

Giants Fall in Regular Season Finale

Published on September 10, 2023 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


The San Jose Giants closed out the regular season with a 13-5 loss to the Stockton Ports on Sunday afternoon at Excite Ballpark. A pair of homers jumpstarted a four-run top of the first inning for Stockton and the Ports never looked back on their way to earning a split of the six-game series. The Giants finish the regular season with a 68-64 overall record and will open the playoffs on Tuesday night in Modesto.

Justin Wishkoski (3-for-5, 2B) collected three hits to lead San Jose offensively in the regular season finale.

Stockton raced out early against Giants starter Dylan Cumming with Will Simpson, the second batter of the game, launching a solo home run to left center for a 1-0 Ports lead. Following a walk and a hit batter, Myles Naylor stepped to the plate and crushed a fly ball over the fence in deep center for a three-run home run to make it 4-0. Cumming had allowed only three homers in 90 innings this season prior to the two round-trippers on Sunday.

San Jose pulled within 4-1 with a single tally in the bottom of the fourth as Bryce Eldridge reached on an error, Wishkoski doubled and Scott Bandura hit a sacrifice fly. However, Stockton responded with a five-run top of the fifth to take control of the game. With reliever Jorge Garcia on the mound, back-to-back infield singles from Jonah Cox and Simpson started the rally. After Henry Bolte drew a walk to load the bases, Jose Mujica hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the first run of the frame. Naylor then singled before a Yeniel Laboy RBI single made it 6-1. Angel Arevalo followed with a grounder to third that was misplayed by Charlie Szykowny for an error as another run came home and then a Bjay Cooke two-run single pushed the Ports advantage to 9-1.

Stockton's onslaught continued in the sixth with three more runs. An error plated the first run of the inning before a passed ball with a runner at third base extended the lead to 11-1. Laboy's second RBI single in as many inning then made it a 12-1 game.

The Ports' 13th and final run of afternoon came in the top of the eighth on three straight singles from Bolte, Mujica and Naylor. Naylor finished the game 4-for-5 with four RBI's.

The Giants would score four times in the bottom of the eighth to bring the game to its final margin of 13-5. Consecutive walks to Diego Velasquez and Eldridge started the inning before a Wishkoski single loaded the bases with none out. Bandura then bounced into a force out to pick-up his second RBI as Velasquez came home. Two batters later, Szykowny hit a high fly ball down the left field line that was misplayed by the left fielder Robert Puason. As the ball rolled back towards straightaway left, Eldridge, Wishkoski and Szykowny all came home to cut the Stockton lead to 13-5. The play was ruled a four-base error.

Ports starter Carlos Guarate pitched first four innings with one unearned run allowed before Dallas Woolfolk tossed three hitless innings of relief to pick-up the win.

Cumming (7-3) was saddled with the loss after surrendering four runs (all earned) in his two innings of work. Cumming, who was San Jose's Co-Pitcher of the Year (with Manuel Mercedes), finishes the regular season with a stellar 2.93 ERA.

Stockton out-hit the Giants 17-6 on Sunday. The Ports were a sizzling 7-for-13 with runners in scoring position compared to 2-for-13 for San Jose. Giants pitchers struck out 14 in the loss and finished with a whopping 78 strikeouts during the six-game series (13 per game). San Jose and Stockton split their 30 meetings this season.

Justin Wishkoski had three hits for the Giants in Sunday's loss

Following an off day, the Giants play Game 1 of the best-of-three North Division Series in Modesto on Tuesday night. First pitch at John Thurman Field is at 7:05 PM. The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com. The series then shifts to Excite Ballpark for Game 2 on Thursday and Game 3 on Friday (if necessary).

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California League Stories from September 10, 2023


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