CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Offense Erupts in Comeback Victory

August 3, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


BAKERSFIELD, CA - The San Jose Giants pounded out 17 hits and scored six unanswered runs to finish the game on their way to a 9-6 win over the Bakersfield Blaze on Tuesday night at Sam Lynn Ballpark. The Giants took the lead for good with a four-run top of the sixth en route to evening the series at a game piece. The victory also snapped San Jose's (56-53) losing streak at four games.

Ronnie Jebavy (3-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI) and T.J. Bennett (3-for-4, 2B, RBI, SB) had three hits apiece to lead the Giants offensive attack. Jonah Arenado (2-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI) added a pair of run-scoring doubles, including the go-ahead hit in the top of the sixth. Dylan Davis (2-for-5, 3B, 2 RBI), Mitch Delfino (2-for-5, RBI), Rene Melendez (2-for-5) and Robbie Garvey (2-for-4) also finished with multi-hit games.

The relief trio of Dusten Knight, D.J. Snelten and Reyes Moronta combined to throw 4 2/3 scoreless innings to finish the contest. Knight (2-1) earned the win after tossing 2 2/3 innings without allowing a run. Snelten then pitched a perfect bottom of the eighth before Moronta set down the side in order in the ninth to pick-up the save.

Six straight Blaze runs in the game gave the home team a 6-3 lead after five innings. San Jose though would rally in the sixth. Still facing Bakersfield starter Eddie Campbell, the inning began when Bennett was hit by a pitch. After Melendez singled and Garvey walked, the bases were loaded for Jebavy. The Giants leadoff hitter than hit a slow roller to second that was fielded by Gianfranco Wawoe. Wawoe though threw wildly to second in an effort to force out Garvey and everyone was safe. Bennett scored on the play as Jebavy was credited with an RBI while the bases remained loaded. Jake Zokan was then summoned from the bullpen and he promptly induced Rando Moreno on the first pitch to ground into a 6-4-3 double play. Melendez did score to trim the Blaze lead to 6-5 while Garvey, the potential tying run, was at third with two outs. Davis was up next and he blasted a 3-0 pitch from Zokan off the fence in deep right center field for a triple. The hit easily scored Garvey to tie the game. Arenado then belted a double to deep center bringing home Davis giving the Giants a 7-6 lead.

Knight, who had recorded the final two outs of the bottom of the fifth, returned to the mound in the sixth and worked around a two-out infield single to keep San Jose ahead by a run. Knight struck out two batters in the frame.

The Giants then kept the pressure on with two more runs in the top of the seventh. Delfino led off with a single before taking second on a wild pitch. Bennett then clubbed an RBI double off the fence in deep left. Two batters later, Garvey reached on a bunt single before Jebavy blooped a double down the right field line to score Bennett for a 9-6 advantage.

In the bottom of the seventh, Knight allowed a leadoff single to Jay Baum into shallow right. Baum though attempted to stretch the hit into a double and was easily thrown out by the second baseman Bennett from right field. Knight then quickly retired the next two hitters on groundouts to end the inning. Knight yielded just three singles with one walk and four strikeouts during his long relief stint.

In the bottom of the eighth, Snelten (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) struck out a pair in a perfect frame to maintain the three-run cushion. Moronta (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) then needed just eight pitches in the ninth to seal the victory. Moronta was credited with his eighth save of the year.

Zokan (3-1) suffered the loss for the Blaze after yielding three runs (all earned) on six hits over two innings of relief. Zokan entered the contest with a season ERA of 0.54 (2 ER/33.1 IP).

The back-and-forth game began with San Jose scoring three runs over the first two innings to take a 3-0 lead. In the top of the first, Moreno doubled with one out and scored on Arenado's two-out double into the left field corner. Then after Miguel Gomez walked, Delfino laced an RBI single into left to make it 2-0.

In the top of the second, three consecutive singles from Melendez, Garvey and Jebavy loaded the bases with none out. Two batters later, Davis grounded a one-out RBI single into left for a 3-0 lead.

Conner Menez started on the mound for the Giants in what was his California League debut. The left-hander began his start by retiring five straight Bakersfield hitters before running into trouble with two outs in the bottom of the second. A single from Braden Bishop started the rally before Daniel Torres walked. Austin Wilson and Justin Seager then delivered back-to-back RBI singles to bring the Blaze to within 3-2.

After Menez worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the third, Bakersfield rallied in the fourth. Joe DeCarlo led off with a single before a one-out walk to Torres put runners on first and second. Wilson then stepped to the plate and launched a three-run home run to right. The homer, Wilson's seventh of the season, gave the Blaze a 5-3 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, Menez allowed a leadoff single to Wawoe before an errant pick-off throw advanced the runner to third. Following a strikeout of Tyler Marlette, Menez was removed from the game in favor of Knight. Baum was up next and he grounded a single into left plating Wawoe for a 6-3 Bakersfield advantage. A walk and an error then loaded the bases with still just one out, but Knight settled down and struck out Torres and Wilson back-to-back to end the inning.

Campbell had kept the Giants off the scoreboard from the third through the fifth innings before San Jose erupted in the top of the sixth to reclaim the lead.

Notes - * San Jose's 17 hits was one off of their season-high. Seven of the nine players in the lineup had at least two hits. * The Giants out-hit the Blaze 17-9. San Jose was 9-for-21 (.429 AVG) with runners in scoring position. * Jebavy is 6-for-10 (.600 AVG) with two doubles, a home run and three RBI's over the first two games of the series. * The Giants won for just the third time in their last 14 road games. * With two doubles on Tuesday, Arenado now has 29 this season - third in the California League. * Menez (4 1/3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO) was added to the roster before the game from Salem-Keizer (Short-Season). Menez became the first player from the 2016 San Francisco Giants draft class (14th round) to reach San Jose. * Delfino and Moreno joined the Giants on Tuesday from Sacramento (AAA). The duo both played previously in San Jose during the 2014 season. Pitchers Tyler Cyr and Jason Forjet were placed on the 7-day disabled list. * The Giants are 2-4 on their road trip with one game remaining.

On Deck: The Giants and Blaze play the rubber game of their three-game series on Wednesday evening with first pitch at Sam Lynn Ballpark scheduled for 7:30 PM. Jordan Johnson (6-8, 5.79 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Bakersfield is expected to counter with Anthony Misiewicz (6-9, 4.48 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 7:00 PM.

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