CalL San Jose Giants

Giants Power to 9-5 Victory over Quakes

Published on June 23, 2021 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


Alex Canario homered twice, Marco Luciano went deep and the Giants three times overcame deficits in a 9-5 win over the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on Tuesday night at Excite Ballpark. San Jose pitchers also racked up 17 strikeouts on the way to the series-opening victory. The Giants (29-14) have now won 12 out of their last 15 games overall.

Tuesday's contest between the two first-place clubs in Low-A West was a back-and-forth affair. Rancho Cucamonga jumped out early when Brandon Lewis hit a solo home run in the top of the first off of San Jose starter Ryan Murphy. Canario though tied the game in the bottom of the second when he launched a 433-foot solo homer to deep center.

The Quakes went back in front in the top of the third on Diego Cartaya's two-out RBI single, but the Giants had an answer thanks to another Canario blast. Jairo Pomares walked with two outs in the bottom of the third before Canario ripped a line drive two-run homer down the left field line for a 3-2 San Jose advantage. The homer was Canario's second in two at-bats and his sixth overall this season.

The seesaw battle continued though as two more Rancho Cucamonga runs in the top of the fourth put the Dodgers affiliate back ahead. Murphy issued a leadoff walk to Sauryn Lao before Edwin Mateo's one-out pop up was dropped by third baseman Luis Toribio for an error. Ismael Alcantara was up next and he laced a triple into the right center field gap scoring both runners to give the Quakes a 4-3 lead. The two-RBI hit knocked Murphy out of the game, however Austin Reich entered from the bullpen and promptly recorded a strikeout before inducing a fly out to keep the deficit at a single run.

After Reich breezed through a perfect top of the fifth, Luciano led off the bottom of the inning with a mammoth 423-foot home run to left center. The blast, Luciano's team-leading ninth of the season, tied the game 4-4.

The Giants then took back the lead with a second run in the bottom of the fifth. Pomares followed the homer by reaching on an error before a walk to Canario. Carter Williams then grounded into a fielder's choice with Canario forced for the second out. Garrett Frechette followed with an RBI groundout as Pomares came home to make it 5-4 San Jose.

Reich struck out two more in a scoreless top of the sixth before the Giants added to their lead in the bottom of the frame. Luis Matos led off with an infield single and was at second with two outs when Pomares delivered an RBI single up the middle for a 6-4 advantage.

Brooks Crawford relieved Reich to begin the top of the seventh and saw Rancho Cucamonga score once to cut the San Jose lead in half. Three singles in the inning produced a run with Lewis' one-out RBI knock bringing the Quakes to within 6-5. However with the potential tying run at second and go-ahead run at first, Crawford struck out the clean-up hitter Cartaya on three pitches before Matos made an excellent running catch in deep right center on a fly ball hit by Alex De Jesus to end the inning.

With the lead still at a single run, Clay Helvey took over in the top of the eighth and struck out the side in a dominant 1-2-3 inning of work. The Giants then plated three key insurance runs in the bottom of the inning to pad their lead. Consecutive singles from Ricardo Genoves and Luciano started the inning. Then with two down, Williams smacked a triple into the left center field gap to score both runners. Abdiel Layer followed with an RBI single into right to push the margin to 9-5.

Helvey slammed the door in the top of the ninth recording two more strikeouts in the frame to seal the San Jose victory.

GIANTS NOTES

Home Runs

This series features the top two home run hitting teams in Low-A West. Lewis' first-inning blast was Rancho Cucamonga's league-leading 56th home run of the season. San Jose's three round-trippers on Tuesday now gives the Giants 55 home runs this year.

Hitting Leaders

Alex Canario (2-for-3, 2 HR, 3 RBI) had his first multi-homer game of the season. Marco Luciano (2-for-4, HR, RBI) is now tied for second in the league in home runs. Luis Matos (3-for-5) singled three times to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. Ricardo Genoves (2-for-5, 2B) also finished with a multi-hit game.

Inside The Box Score

The Giants out-hit the Quakes 14-9. San Jose won despite a season-high 13 runners left on base. Rancho Cucamonga pitching issued eight walks. Jairo Pomares (1-for-4, RBI) and Carter Williams (1-for-5, 3B, 2 RBI) made their Excite Ballpark debuts after joining San Jose on the road trip last week. Ryan Murphy pitched 3 1/3 innings in his start with four runs (three earned) allowed. He walked two and struck out six.

In The 'Pen

Austin Reich earned the win after tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings. Reich retired seven of the eight batters he faced with the only baserunner coming on a bunt single. He struck out four. Clay Helvey notched his team-leading sixth save with two perfect innings to finish the game. He struck out five of the six batters he faced.

Strikeout Leaders

With 17 more punchouts on Tuesday, the Giants pitching staff now has 557 strikeouts this season - tops in all of Minor League Baseball. San Jose hurlers are averaging 13 strikeouts per game.

Standings Update

The Giants (29-14) increased their North Division lead over the Fresno Grizzlies (26-17) to three games. San Jose has not lost back-to-back games in June.

Roster Moves

Catcher Fabian Pena was added to San Jose's roster from Triple-A Sacramento before the game on Tuesday. Pena played in 40 games for the Giants during the 2019 season. In a corresponding roster move, catcher Rodolfo Bone was transferred to the Arizona Complex League (Rookie-level).

On Deck

The Giants and Quakes continue their six-game series on Wednesday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 6:30 PM. Wil Jensen is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

Check out the San Jose Giants Statistics

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California League Stories from June 23, 2021


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