Giants Pitching Shines in Road Trip Opener
April 15, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
SAN BERNARDINO, CA - Four San Jose pitchers - Jason Forjet, Dusten Knight, Reyes Moronta and Rodolfo Martinez - combined on a three-hitter with 15 strikeouts in a 4-2 Giants victory over the Inland Empire 66ers on Thursday evening at San Manuel Stadium. At one point in the contest, San Jose hurlers retired 16 consecutive Inland Empire batters as the Giants (3-2) claimed the opener of their seven-game road trip.
Forjet (1-0) earned the win for San Jose after allowing just one hit over five scoreless innings to begin the contest. The right-hander, who set down 15 out of the 17 batters he faced, walked one and struck out eight. Rodolfo Martinez pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth inning for his third save of the year.
Steven Duggar (2-for-4, 2B, HR, RBI) doubled and homered to lead the Giants offensively.
San Jose jumped out early as Duggar gave the Giants a 1-0 lead two batters into the game with a towering solo home run to deep right center field. The home run was Duggar's second of the season.
Forjet began his night by retiring the first five Sixers hitters that came to the plate. With two outs in the bottom of the second, Caleb Adams lined a single into center before Jeff Boehm walked putting runners on first and second. However, Forjet struck out the next hitter, Trevor Allen, on three pitches to end the threat. Forjet then didn't allow another hitter to reach base for the remainder of his outing. The San Jose starter struck out two batters in a perfect bottom of the third before recording another punchout in a 1-2-3 fourth inning. He then finished his night with a quick fifth inning that included two more strikeouts.
Meanwhile, the Giants extended their lead to 2-0 in the top of the fifth as Jose Vizcaino, Jr. drew a leadoff walk, stole second, advanced to third on a wild throw from catcher Taylor Ward and scored when Johneshwy Fargas singled to center.
In the top of the seventh, Fargas generated San Jose's third run of the night. The Giants speedster was hit by a pitch to start the inning before moving to second on Brandon Bednar's groundout. Fargas then stole third and scored moments later on a wild pitch.
Knight (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO) set down all six Inland Empire batters over the sixth and seventh innings, including three via the strikeout. San Jose then pushed their lead to 4-0 with a single run in the top of the eighth. Duggar led off with a double into the left center field gap before C.J Hinojosa walked. With one out, Aramis Garcia walked to load the bases and then after Vizcaino, Jr. popped out, a passed ball allowed Duggar to score for a 4-0 advantage.
Moronta (1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO) pitched the bottom of the eighth for the Giants and allowed two runs as the 66ers cut the San Jose lead in half. Adams walked to start the inning - Inland Empire's first baserunner since the second inning. Boehm then ripped a double to deep left center plating Adams with the first Sixers run. Moronta recovered to strikeout Allen before Ayendy Perez popped out, but Tim Arakawa followed with an RBI single up the middle to trim the lead to 4-2. Moronta though managed to limit the damage as with the potential tying run at the plate, he struck out David Fletcher to retire the side.
Martinez (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) then breezed through the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory. The Giants closer registered back-to-back strikeouts of Jose Briceno and Ward to start the inning before Zach Houchins grounded out.
Inland Empire starting pitcher Alex Klonowski (0-2) suffered the loss after surrendering two runs (one earned) on four hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out two.
Notes:
* Forjet has thrown 27 consecutive scoreless innings spanning five starts dating back to the 2015 regular season.
* Giants pitchers on Thursday combined for 15 strikeouts and just two walks. 27 out of the 32 Inland Empire batters were retired.
* Duggar has two home runs in five games this season after hitting just one homer in 58 games with Salem-Keizer (Short-Season) last year.
* San Jose out-hit Inland Empire 5-3.
* Fargas (1-for-3, RBI, SB) stole his team-leading third base of the season.
* Martinez has made three relief appearances this year and is 3-for-3 in save opportunities. He had not recorded a save in his professional career entering 2016 (two seasons).
* Thursday was the Giants' first road game of the season.
* Inland Empire fell to 0-8 this year.
* Hinojosa (1-for-3) is the only San Jose player to have hit safely in all five games this season.
* Knight was added to the Giants active roster before the game on Thursday. Pitcher Carlos Diaz was placed on the 7-day disabled list.
On Deck: The Giants and 66ers continue their four-game series on Friday evening with first pitch at San Manuel Stadium scheduled for 7:05 PM. Andrew Suarez (0-0, 3.60 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Inland Empire is expected to counter with Jeremy Rhoades (0-1, 5.40 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM.
California League Stories from April 15, 2016
- Only Two Weeks Left to Apply for the Quakes LoanMart Scholarship - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Cody Regis RBI Double in the Ninth Gives Rawhide Walk-Off Win - Visalia Rawhide
- Herb's 9 K's Not Enough in Loss - Bakersfield Blaze
- Sixers Drop Home Opener, Fall to 0-8 on the Year - Inland Empire 66ers
- Giants Pitching Shines in Road Trip Opener - San Jose Giants
- JetHawks Fall in Home Opener - Lancaster JetHawks
- Hoelscher's Three-Run Blast Takes Nuts Past Ports - Stockton Ports
- Hoelscher, Howard Lead Nuts to Home-Opening 5-2 Win - Modesto Nuts
- Quakes Take Fourth Straight - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
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