CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Open August with 7-5 Victory

Published on August 2, 2018 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


VISALIA, CA - Carlos Sano tossed five strong innings while Wander Franco delivered a pair of clutch two-out, two-run singles to lead the San Jose Giants to a 7-5 win over the Visalia Rawhide on Wednesday evening at Recreation Park. The victory snapped San Jose's (48-62 overall, 14-26 second half) three-game losing streak.

Franco (2-for-5, 4 RBI) produced a two-run single in the top of the fifth that put the Giants in front for good before adding a key two-run single in the eighth to extend the lead. Kelvin Beltre (3-for-4) also contributed three hits while Gio Brusa (1-for-3, HR, RBI) blasted his team-leading 17th home run of the season.

Sano (3-3) earned the win after limiting the Rawhide to one run during his start. The right-hander surrendered four hits, walked one and struck out four. Frank Rubio gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth, but slammed the door on Visalia to collect his seventh save.

San Jose never trailed in the contest as Brusa's two-out solo home run to straightaway center in the top of the first gave the Giants an early 1-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Sano began his start with three scoreless innings. Sano pitched out of a bases loaded, two-out jam in the bottom of the third to keep San Jose ahead by a run. The Rawhide though tied the game when Renae Martinez led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run to left center. Sano recovered to set down the next three hitters, however, before the Giants reclaimed the lead the next half-inning.

Beltre led off the top of the fifth with a single up the middle. Brandon Van Horn then grounded a double down the left field line, however Beltre was thrown out at the plate on the play as he attempted to score the go-ahead run. After Jalen Miller grounded out for the second out, Heath Quinn and Brusa worked back-to-back walks to load the bases. Franco was up next and he singled into shallow left center to bring home both Van Horn and Quinn for a 3-1 lead.

Sano then breezed through a scoreless bottom of the fifth to end his night before San Jose extended their lead with two more runs in the sixth. Consecutive singles from Jacob Heyward and Beltre started the inning before a Miller one-out RBI single made the score 4-1. A two-out wild pitch later in the inning would then allow Beltre to score the fifth Giants run of the game.

Franklin Van Gurp (2/3 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO) relieved Sano to begin the bottom of the sixth and quickly ran into trouble with a pair of one-out walks. Then with two down, Luis Alejandro Basabe drilled a double into the right center field gap to score both runners to trim the San Jose lead to 5-3. Sandro Cabrera would enter from the bullpen and needed just one pitch to record the final out maintain the two-run advantage.

Visalia though continued their comeback effort with a run against Cabrera (2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) in the bottom of the seventh. Dominic Miroglio led off with a single before two Cabrera wild pitches moved the runner to third. Then with two outs, Ramon Hernandez blooped an RBI double down the right field line to make it 5-4. Cabrera, however, came back to set down Martinez on a routine fly out to retire the side.

The Giants then took back the momentum with a two-run top of the eighth. Beltre led off with a bunt single before Van Horn walked. Quinn then walked with one out to load the bases. Brusa was up next and he struck out, but Franco followed with another big hit as he lined a single into right plating both Beltre and Van Horn for a 7-4 cushion.

Cabrera needed just nine pitches to work a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth before Rubio took over to begin the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Miroglio was hit by a pitch before Marcus Wilson hammered a double off the fence in deep left center to put runners on second and third. Pavin Smith was up next and he grounded out to second with Mirogilo coming home on the play to cut the San Jose lead to 7-5. Rubio then ended the game with a swinging strikeout of Hernandez.

Rawhide starter Matt Peacock (3-3) suffered the loss after yielding three runs (all earned) on five hits over 4 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out four.

Notes

* The Giants opened August with a win after posting a league-worst 8-21 record in July.

* Brusa's 17 home runs matches his 2017 season total in San Jose. Brusa hit 17 homers in 113 games last year in the California League. He needed just 83 games to hit 17 home runs this season.

* The Giants out-hit the Rawhide 10-8 on Wednesday.

* San Jose hitters drew a season-high tying nine walks.

* The teams combined to throw nine wild pitches (Giants 3, Rawhide 6).

* Sano has a 2.39 ERA (7 ER/26.2 IP) in his last five starts.

* Heyward (1-for-5) extended his hitting streak to seven games.

* Rubio is 7-for-8 in save opportunities with San Jose.

* The Giants won for just the second time in their last nine road games.

On Deck

The Giants and Rawhide play the rubber game of their three-game series on Thursday evening with first pitch at Recreation Park scheduled for 7:00 PM. Mac Marshall (0-2, 3.69 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Visalia is expected to counter with Jeff Bain (0-1, 7.20 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:40 PM.

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