Giants Fall to Quakes, Win Streak Snapped at Four
May 21, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA - A Giants error with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning allowed the tiebreaking run to score for Rancho Cucamonga in a 4-3 Quakes victory over San Jose on Saturday night at LoanMart Field. Four Rancho Cucamonga pitchers combined to strikeout 15 Giants hitters in the contest as San Jose's (24-16) winning streak was snapped at four games.
Andrew Susac (2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI) had two hits and drove in two runs to lead the Giants offensively in defeat. C.J Hinojosa (2-for-4) and Cristian Paulino (2-for-4, 2B) also finished with two hits apiece.
With the game tied 3-3, the Giants summoned Dusten Knight out of the bullpen to pitch the bottom of the seventh. Knight quickly retired the first two batters of the frame before issuing a walk to Erick Mejia. Johan Mieses was up next and he lined a Knight pitch into deep left center field for a hit. Johneshwy Fargas raced over for San Jose, but was unable to keep the ball in front of him. As the ball rolled to the fence, Mejia sprinted around the bases and scored all the way from first giving the Quakes a 4-3 lead. Mieses was credited with a single on the play while the Fargas error allowed the run to score.
Offensively, the Giants didn't score after the third inning and didn't pick-up a hit after the sixth. Rancho Cucamonga reliever Joe Broussard struck out two in a 1-2-3 top of the eighth before Scott Griggs fanned two more San Jose hitters in a perfect ninth inning.
Philip Pfeifer (2-0) was credited with the win out of the Quakes bullpen after tossing scoreless sixth and seventh innings. Pfeifer surrendered just one hit and struck out three. Griggs earned his seventh save of the year.
Knight (0-1) was saddled with the loss for the Giants after yielding the game-deciding run in the seventh. Knight worked two innings of relief and allowed one hit and one unearned run with one walk and one strikeout.
San Jose jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a single run in the top of the first against Rancho Cucamonga starter Tommy Bergjans. Dugger began the game with a double to deep left center before Susac singled with one out to put runners on the corners. Chris Shaw then delivered a sacrifice fly to left plating Duggar with the first run of the contest.
Mark Reyes started on the mound for the Giants and tossed a scoreless first inning before running into trouble in the second. A walk to Julian Leon started the bottom of the second before a one-out single from Pin-Chieh Chen put two runners on base. Mejia then stepped to the plate and belted a double to deep left center plating both Leon and Chen for a 2-1 Quakes advantage. It marked the first time since Tuesday that San Jose had trailed in a game.
The Giants though immediately answered with two runs of their own in the top of the third. Duggar led off with a grounder to first that rolled through the legs of Leon for an error. Duggar raced into second on the play and then moved to third when Hinojosa lined a single up the middle. Susac was up next and he laced a double into the right center field gap scoring both runners to give San Jose a 3-2 lead. Susac though was unable to advance any further as the next three hitters were retired and the Giants wouldn't score for the remainder of the night.
Rancho Cucamonga drew even in the bottom of the third when Kyle Garlick led off with a towering solo home run to left. The homer, Garlick's team-leading 11th of the season, tied the game 3-3.
The score then remained deadlocked all the way until the seventh. Reyes pitched six innings for San Jose allowing three runs (all earned) and four hits. He walked one and struck out four. Reyes set down 11 out of the final 12 batters he faced.
The Giants' only hit over the last four innings came in the top of the sixth. With Pfeifer pitching, Brandon Bednar walked with two outs before Paulino blooped a single into shallow center putting runners on first and third. Pfeifer though recovered striking out Fargas to end the inning and keep the game tied.
Pfeifer then pitched around a two-out walk to Susac in the top of the seventh before the Quakes rallied in the bottom of the inning.
California League Stories from May 21, 2016
- Nuts Surrender Late Lead in 5-4 Loss - Modesto Nuts
- Giants Fall to Quakes, Win Streak Snapped at Four - San Jose Giants
- Quakes Use the Force on Star Wars Night - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Sixers' Late Runs Crack Nuts 4-2 - Inland Empire 66ers
- Early Homers, Stellar Defense Lift Giants Past Quakes - San Jose Giants
- Cordero's Thunder Propels Storm - Bakersfield Blaze
- Gossett Masterful as Ports Blank 'Hide 7-0 - Stockton Ports
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