Giants Fall to Mavericks, Split Four-Game Series
Published on May 14, 2013 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
SAN JOSE - The High Desert Mavericks handed the Giants their worst loss of the season with a 9-2 victory over San Jose on Monday evening at Municipal Stadium. High Desert scored in each of the first four innings before cruising to the win. With the defeat, the Giants split the four-game series as their overall record dropped to 25-13.
Angel Villalona (2-for-3, 2B, HR, RBI) hit his seventh home run of the season to lead San Jose offensively. The Giants were held to a season-low three hits in the loss.
Both teams scored single runs in the first inning. In the top of the frame, Chris Taylor began the night by drawing a walk before stealing second. Taylor then scored on Daniel Paolini's two-out double.
San Jose scored in the exact same manner in the bottom of the inning as Shawn Payne drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on a two-out double down the left field line from Devin Harris.
The Mavericks then took the lead for good with a pair of unearned runs off Giants starter Edwin Escobar in the top of the second. After the first two batters of the inning struck out, Nate Melendres doubled into the right field corner. Jamal Austin then hit a grounder to second that misplayed by Ydwin Villegas for an error as Melendres raced home with the go-ahead run. With Taylor at the plate, Austin was picked-off, but Villalona's throw to second bounced away for another error. Austin took third on the play and then scored on Taylor's infield single up the middle.
High Desert added two runs against Escobar in the third to extend their lead to 5-1. Ji-Man Choi drew a leadoff walk before Paolini singled. Jabari Blash then reached on a throwing error committed by Bobby Haney at shortstop. Blash was credited with an RBI as Choi scored to make it 4-1. Three batters later, Melendres delivered a sacrifice fly to right extending the lead to 5-1.
Escobar (0-1) was saddled with his first loss of the season after surrendering five runs (two earned) on four hits in three innings of work. He walked three, struck out six and threw 80 pitches during his stint on the mound.
The Mavericks kept the pressure on with a single tally in the fourth and three more runs in the sixth to increase their lead to 9-1. A two-out, RBI single from Paolini in the top of the fourth off Jose Casilla (2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) made it 6-1. Then in the sixth, High Desert sent seven batters to the plate against Jeff Soptic (1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) collecting three singles and three runs. Anthony Phillips and Blash came through with RBI singles during the rally while Paolini drove home his third run of the night with a sacrifice fly.
San Jose cut the margin to 9-2 in the bottom of the seventh when Villalona connected for a solo homer to right center field.
Mavericks starting pitcher Jordan Pries (3-2) earned the win after tossing a season-high seven innings with two runs (both earned) and three hits allowed. He walked one and struck out seven.
The Giants' only hits in the game were Harris' first-inning double, a leadoff double from Villalona in the fifth and the home run in the seventh.
Notes: The final seven-run margin was the worst loss of the year for San Jose (previous high was six) ... High Desert outscored the Giants 15-2 over the last two games in the series ... San Jose was held to a combined seven hits in the last two games ... The Mavericks out-hit the Giants by a 10-3 margin on Monday ... Harris collected his 10th double and 30th RBI of the season ... Josh Osich (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO), Bryce Bandilla (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO) and Hunter Strickland (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) combined to retire nine straight High Desert hitters over the last three innings ... San Jose pitching coach Mike Couchee was ejected by home plate umpire Paul Clemons in the top of the third for arguing balls and strikes ... The Giants maintain their two-game lead over the Visalia Rawhide (23-15) in the first half North Division race.
On Deck: After a day off, the Giants begin a season-long 11-game road trip on Wednesday evening with the first of four straight contests against the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM. Ty Blach (4-1, 1.87 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Rancho Cucamonga is scheduled to counter with James Campbell (1-2, 3.10 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM.
California League Stories from May 14, 2013
- Madson Saves, 66ers Win 4-1 - Inland Empire 66ers
- Quakes Take Three of Four in Lake Elsinore - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Blaze Jump Nuts Early, Take Finale 5-2 - Bakersfield Blaze
- Giants Fall to Mavericks, Split Four-Game Series - San Jose Giants
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
