Giants Rally for 8-7 Victory over Quakes
August 8, 2018 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
SAN JOSE, CA - The San Jose Giants rallied from three deficits on Tuesday night en route to a wild 8-7 victory over the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at Municipal Stadium. Kelvin Beltre and Wander Franco hit game-tying home runs in the fifth and sixth innings respectively before San Jose came back a third time with a three-run bottom of the seventh to take their first lead of the contest. The win snapped the Giants' (49-67 overall, 15-31 second half) five-game losing streak and evened the series with Rancho Cucamonga at a game apiece.
Franco (2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI) and Beltre (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) led San Jose offensively in the come-from-behind victory. A Quakes error with two outs in the bottom of the seventh allowed the tying and go-ahead runs to score before the Giants held off Rancho Cucamonga over the final two innings to secure the win.
The back-and-forth affair saw the Quakes build a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and fourth innings against San Jose starter Mac Marshall. In the top of the first, two walks and a single loaded the bases with two outs. Marshall then walked Carlos Rincon to force home a run. Marshall then settled down to retire eight straight hitters until Rincon stepped to the plate with one out in the top of the fourth and launched a solo homer to left to make it 2-0.
The Giants managed only one hit over the first four innings before breaking through in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Sandro Fabian singled before taking second on a passed ball. Beltre then crushed a 3-1 pitch from Rancho Cucamonga starter Edwin Uceta over the fence in left center for a game-tying two-run home run. The homer was Beltre's fourth of the season.
The Quakes though came right back with a three-run top of the sixth against the San Jose bullpen to move in front by a 5-2 margin. Reliever Trevor Horn (1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO) walked Rincon to start the inning before retiring Hamlet Marte on a pop out. Nick Yarnall's groundout then moved Rincon to second before Brandon Montgomery delivered a go-ahead RBI single into center. The hit knocked Horn out of the game, but Sandro Cabrera (0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO) then entered and failed to retire any of the four batters he faced. Jared Walker greeted Cabrera with a single before Connor Wong singled home the second run of the inning. A walk to Cody Thomas followed to load the bases and then Cabrera issued another walk to Omar Estevez forcing home Walker for a 5-2 Rancho Cucamonga cushion. Franklin Van Gurp was then summoned and he promptly struck out Jeren Kendall to end the inning.
The Giants, however, responded immediately with a three-run bottom of the sixth to again tie the game. A one-out walk to Heath Quinn started the rally before Dillon Dobson singled. Then with two down, Franco drilled a towering three-run home run to deep left. The homer, Franco's fifth of the year, brought San Jose even at 5-5.
Van Gurp (1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) returned to the mound in the top of the seventh for the Giants, but surrendered a leadoff home run to Rincon as the Quakes reclaimed the lead at 6-5. The home run was Rincon's second of the night and third in the series.
San Jose had an answer though with a three-run bottom of the seventh to take their first lead of the game. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, Tanner Murphy, Bryce Johnson and Quinn produced three straight singles to load the bases. Dobson then hit a grounder to first that Yarnall stopped with a slide. However, Yarnall's throw to pitcher Michael Boyle covering at first sailed high and rolled into foul territory. The error allowed both Murphy and Johnson to score giving the Giants a 7-6 lead. Moments later with Gio Brusa batting, a wild pitch brought home Quinn to make it 8-6.
Ian Gardeck (1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) then took over out of the San Jose bullpen to begin the the top of the eighth and would immediately run into trouble. Thomas led off with an infield single to third before Estevez delivered an RBI double down the right field line bringing Rancho Cucamonga back within 8-7. However with the tying run at second, Gardeck retired the next three hitters as Kendall flied out to shallow center, Rincon struck out swinging and Marte grounded out to shortstop ending the inning with the Giants still ahead.
Nolan Riggs (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO) then struck out three batters in a scoreless top of the ninth to seal the victory. With two outs, Walker was hit by a pitch before a wild pitch advanced the potential tying run to second. Riggs though came back to strikeout Wong to end the game.
Van Gurp (1-0) was credited with the win for San Jose while Riggs collected his fourth save of the year.
Quakes reliever Michael Boyle (1-2) was saddled with the loss after yielding all three runs in the bottom of the seventh. The runs were all unearned.
Notes
* The Giants also snapped a six-game home losing streak.
* Both teams finished with eight hits.
* San Jose pitchers walked a season-high tying 10 batters and struck out 14.
* Franco extended his hitting streak to 10 games. His 58 RBI's this season are tied for the team lead (Brusa).
* Marshall pitched a season-high 4 2/3 innings with two runs (both earned) and two hits allowed. His six walks and seven strikeouts were also both season-high totals.
* The Giants won for just the fourth time in 17 games against Rancho Cucamonga this year.
* Gardeck was added to the San Jose roster from the Arizona Rookie League before the game. Gardeck previously pitched in San Jose during the 2015 season (61 G, 3.54 ERA, 104 strikeouts in 86 innings) and is returning from two Tommy John surgeries. Tuesday was his first appearance with the Giants since the 2015 California League Championship Series.
On Deck
The Giants and Quakes play the rubber game of their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon at Municipal Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 PM. DJ Myers (3-3, 5.72 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Rancho Cucamonga is expected to counter with Isaac Anderson (7-5, 3.46 ERA). For tickets, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.
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