CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Held to Four Hits in 4-2 Loss

Published on August 9, 2011 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE - The Bakersfield Blaze scored twice in the top of the first inning against Barry Zito and never trailed en route to a 4-2 victory over the San Jose Giants on Monday evening at Municipal Stadium. The Giants were held to only four hits and were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position as they dropped their second straight game in the series to the Blaze.

Zito (2-1) suffered his first loss in three rehab starts with San Jose this season despite settling down after his rocky first inning. The three-time Major League All-Star worked 7 2/3 innings with three runs (all earned) and seven hits allowed. Zito walked two and struck out seven.

Bakersfield jumped on Zito in the top of the first as Dayne Read started the game with a single before stealing second base. Ryan LaMarre then lined a single off the wall in left plating Read with the first run of the evening. LaMarre was thrown out at second base by left fielder Nick Liles attempting to stretch the hit into a double. After Josh Fellhauer lined out to second, Brodie Greene stepped to the plate and crushed a solo home run to left for a 2-0 Blaze advantage.

After the Greene home run, Zito did not allow another hit until Jordan Wideman singled with one out in the top of the fifth inning. The left- hander retired seven consecutive Bakersfield hitters from the second through the fourth innings. He worked around a one-out walk in the fourth before pitching through a bases loaded jam in the fifth. After Wideman's one-out single, LaMarre reached base with two outs on catcher's interference. Fellhauer then walked to load the bases, but Zito induced Greene to fly out to left ending the threat.

Zito quickly retired the first two batters of the top of the sixth, but Devin Lohman doubled to the right center field gap before Jorge Jimenez delivered an RBI single up the middle to make it 3-0.

Zito struck out a pair in a perfect top of the seventh before yielding a one-out single to Alex Buchholz in the eighth. Zito followed by retiring Carlos Mendez on a groundout to end his night after 99 pitches thrown, including 70 strikes.

Meanwhile, Blaze starting pitcher Tim Crabbe was dominant during a six- inning stint on the mound. Crabbe (4-3), who was credited with the win, allowed three hits and no runs with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Nick Noonan doubled with two outs in the bottom of the first and advanced to third when the right field Read misplayed the ball in the corner for an error, but Crabbe struck out Tommy Joseph to finish the inning. The Giants didn't manage another hit until the bottom of the fifth as consecutive singles from Luke Anders and Liles put two runners on with one out. Gary Brown then grounded out to move the runners to second and third, however Ehire Adrianza struck out to end the threat. Crabbe then fanned two in a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth to complete his outing.

San Jose scored their only two runs of the contest in the bottom of the seventh thanks to a pair of walks, a hit by pitch and an error. Facing reliever Derrik Lutz, Jarrett Parker drew a leadoff walk and stole second base. Parker then took third on a one-out wild pitch before Anders walked. Liles followed with a grounder to third that was gloved by Buchholz, but his throw to second, in an attempt to force out Anders, pulled Greene off the base for an error as Parker raced home with the first Giants run. After Brown was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Anders scored when the next batter, Adrianza hit into an RBI fielder's choice to second for the second out. Trailing 3-2, the Giants had the potential tying run at third base and the go- ahead run at first, but Lutz induced Noonan to line out to third ending the inning.

Stephen Harrold (1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO) relieved Zito and pitched out of the eighth inning, but allowed a two-out, solo homer to Read in the top of the ninth extending the Bakersfield lead to 4-2.

In the bottom of the ninth, Brown singled with two outs before Adrianza drew a full-count walk to put the potential tying run at the plate, however Noonan struck out looking on a 2-2 pitch to finish the game.

Chris Manno picked-up his second save after holding the Giants off the scoreboard over the last two innings. Manno allowed one hit, walked one and struck out three.

Notes: The Giants are 0-for-18 with runners in scoring position in the first two games of the series ... Bakersfield pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts on Monday, including eight looking strikeouts ... The Blaze were 0-7 at Municipal Stadium this season entering the series ... Joseph (0-for-3, RBI) saw his hitting streak snapped at 10 games ... Bakersfield out-hit San Jose by an 8-4 margin ... Zito is 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA (6 ER/21.1 IP) in three starts with the San Jose Giants this season ... The Giants' overall record fell to 74-40.

On Deck: The Giants and Blaze conclude their three-game series on Tuesday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 7:00 PM. Chris Heston (10-4, 3.79 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Bakersfield is expected to counter with Matt Fairel (0-1, 81.00 ERA). Tickets are available and can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting www.sjgiants.com.

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