Giants Hold off Grizzlies, 3âÃâ¬Ã"2
May 21, 2021 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
The Giants won for the fifth time in their last six games with a 3-2 victory over the Fresno Grizzlies on Thursday evening at Chukchansi Park. Four San Jose pitchers - Kyle Harrison, Ty Weber, Austin Reich and Chris Wright - combined to strikeout 15 Fresno hitters while a seventh-inning run for the Giants proved to be the difference in the contest.
Harrison continued his impressive start to the season in the San Jose rotation with eight strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings. The left-hander has now fanned a remarkable 22 batters in nine innings pitched this year over his three starts. Meanwhile, the bullpen trio of Weber, Reich and Wright combined to set down 16 of the final 17 Grizzlies hitters that came to the plate on Thursday.
Fresno initially took a 1-0 lead with a single tally against Harrison in the bottom of the first. Julio Carreras started the frame with a double into the right field corner before Harrison issued a one-out walk to Zac Veen and then plunked Mateo Gil to load the bases. Colin Simpson was up next and he grounded into a fielder's choice as Gil was forced out at second, but Carreras came home with the first run of the night.
The Giants would immediately answer in the top of the second when Ricardo Genoves belted an 0-2 pitch from Grizzlies starter Seth Ethridge over the wall in left for a solo homer. The home run was Genoves' first of the season and it tied the game 1-1.
Harrison worked around a leadoff hit batter in the bottom of the second as he set down three in a row to retire the side. In the third, Ezequiel Tovar led off with a single before Harrison registered consecutive strikeouts and then induced a groundout to end the inning. Fresno then scratched across a run in the bottom of the fourth to reclaim the lead. Luke Morgan led off with a double before Harrison struck out the next two hitters. Bladimir Restituyo was up next and he also struck out, but a wild pitch allowed the batter to reach first safely and extend the inning. With runners at the corners, Weber was summoned from the bullpen and he promptly allowed an RBI single to Carreras as Morgan scored to put the Grizzlies ahead 2-1. Weber though limited the damage as he struck out Tovar to end the inning and Fresno would manage only one more baserunner for the remainder of the night.
Once again, San Jose quickly responded to tie the game as Tyler Flores singled with one out in the top of the fifth before taking second on a passed ball. Then with two down, Marco Luciano stepped to the plate and singled sharply down the left field line to bring home Flores with the tying run.
Weber then needed only seven pitches to work a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth before Reich came in and struck out a pair in a perfect sixth inning. Back-to-back balks from Grizzlies reliever Anderson Bido then set-up the decisive Giants run in the top of the seventh. Luis Toribio led off the inning with a single to right. Then during Garrett Frechette's at-bat, two balks called on Bido allowed Toribio to advance all the way to third. Frechette would eventually hit a sacrifice fly to left plating Toribio for a 3-2 San Jose lead.
Fresno threatened in the bottom of the seventh as Carreras tripled to deep right center to put the potential tying run at third with only one out. However, Reich came back to set down Tovar on a groundout to shortstop and then struck out Veen swinging to end the inning.
With the Giants hanging onto a one-run lead, Wright entered in the bottom of the eighth and struck out the side in a dominant inning on the mound. Wright then needed only five pitches to work a 1-2-3 ninth inning to seal the San Jose victory.
GIANTS NOTES
Bullpen Standouts
Austin Reich (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO) was credited with the win on Thursday. Reich has now struck out 17 batters in 9 1/3 innings this season with only three hits and one run allowed. Chris Wright (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO) retired all six batters he faced to collect his team-leading fourth save of the year. Wright has 17 strikeouts in only eight innings this year with one run surrendered.
Road Trip Update
The Giants improved to 6-3 on their road trip with three games remaining. San Jose has won two of the first three games in the series against Fresno.
Hitting Leaders
Tyler Flores was 3-for-4 with a pair of singles and two doubles to lead an 11-hit Giants offensive attack. Ricardo Genoves (2-for-4, HR, RBI) and Luis Matos (2-for-4) also had multi-hit games.
Odds And Ends
The Giants had been 0-3 in one-run games this season before Thursday's victory ... The teams were a combined 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position (San Jose 1-for-7, Fresno 1-for-13) ... Harrison (3 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO) is third in the Low-A West league with 22 strikeouts this season.
On Deck
The Giants and Grizzlies continue their series on Friday night with first pitch at Chukchansi Park set for 6:50 PM. Prelander Berroa is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.
California League Stories from May 21, 2021
- B'Nai B'Rith to Introduce 2021 Class of Student-Athlete Scholarship Recipients at Fresno Grizzlies Home Game - Fresno Grizzlies
- Clutch Hitting Powers Third Nuts' Win over 66ers - Inland Empire 66ers
- Isn't Eight Great? - Modesto Nuts
- Storm Win in Walkoff Fashion against Quakes - Lake Elsinore Storm
- San Jose Slips Past Fresno 3-2 on Thursday - Fresno Grizzlies
- Ports Rally Late to Defeat Rawhide - Stockton Ports
- Giants Hold off Grizzlies, 3âÃâ¬Ãâ2 - San Jose Giants
- Quakes Let Late Lead Slip Away - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
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.
