Giants Rally Late in 6-5 Comeback Win over Storm
Published on May 13, 2022 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
The San Jose Giants rallied late on Thursday night in a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the Lake Elsinore Storm at Excite Ballpark. Najee Gaskins' two-RBI single highlighted a three-run bottom of the seventh that tied the game before Yorlis Rodriguez delivered a go-ahead RBI triple during a two-run eighth inning that put the Giants in front. With the win, San Jose (18-12) has now taken two out of the first three games in the series from Lake Elsinore.
Four Giants pitchers - Eric Silva, Jose Cruz, Manuel Mercedes and Hunter Dula - combined to record 16 strikeouts in Thursday's triumph. Gaskins (2-for-3, HR, 3 RBI) added an early solo homer and drove in half of San Jose's runs to lead the way offensively.
Silva started on the mound for the Giants and began his outing with three scoreless innings. The right-hander, who worked around leadoff singles in the second and third, retired nine out of the first 11 batters he faced. Silva fanned two in each of the first three innings.
Gaskins would then give San Jose a 1-0 lead when he belted a solo home run to deep left center in the bottom of the third. The 402-foot round-tripper was Gaskins' first home run of the season.
The Storm though immediately answered with a run of their own in the top of the fourth. Marcos Castanon drew a leadoff walk, Justin Farmer doubled off the center field wall to put runners on second and third with one out before Albert Fabian's RBI groundout tied the game 1-1. Silva was pulled after issuing a two-out walk, but Cruz entered from the bullpen and registered a strikeout to end the inning before punching out all three batters he faced in a perfect top of the fifth.
With the score still tied, Mercedes was summoned to begin the top of the sixth and would run into immediately trouble as three straight walks to start the inning loaded the bases for Lake Elsinore with none out. Mercedes recovered to strikeout Fabian for the first out and then appeared to induce an inning-ending double play when Pierce Jones hit a grounder to shortstop. On the play, shortstop Dilan Rosario stepped on second base for the second out, but his throw to first sailed high and the ball ended up in foul territory. Two runs were able to score on the miscue as the Storm took their first lead of the game at 3-1.
Matthew Acosta then extended the Lake Elsinore advantage to 4-1 in the top of the seventh when he crushed a solo home run to deep right center off of Mercedes.
The Giants had managed only two hits over the first six innings, but would rally in the seventh scoring three times to tie the game. Rodriguez walked to start the inning before taking second on a wild pitch. Rosario followed with a single to move Rodriguez to third and bring the potential tying run to the plate. After Abdiel Layer struck out, Max Wright was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Another Storm wild pitch then allowed Rodriguez to score cutting the deficit to 4-2 with Rosario advancing to third and Wright taking second. Moments later, Gaskins grounded a single up the middle plating both runners to tie the game.
After Mercedes and Dula combined on a scoreless top of the eighth, San Jose kept the pressure on with a two-run bottom of the inning. Garrett Frechette's one-out bunt single started the rally for the Giants. Then with pinch-runner Aeverson Arteaga at first, Rodriguez came up and hit a fly ball down the right field line that escaped the diving Farmer and rolled to the wall. Arteaga raced around the bases and scored the go-ahead run while Rodriguez easily made it into third with the go-ahead triple. Rosario followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home Rodriguez for a 6-4 cushion.
Acosta hit his second solo home run of the night - an opposite field drive to left center - with one out in the top of the ninth to bring Lake Elsinore to within 6-5, but Dula bounced back with consecutive strikeouts of the next two hitters to seal San Jose's comeback victory.
GIANTS NOTES
Home Run Streak: With Najee Gaskins' homer on Thursday, the Giants have now homered in 10 consecutive games. San Jose has hit a total of 21 home runs during the 10-game stretch (7-3 record).
Inside The Box Score: Both teams finished with six hits on Thursday. In addition to Gaskins, Dilan Rosario (2-for-3, RBI) had a multi-hit game for the Giants. Yorlis Rodriguez's (1-for-3, 3B, RBI) triple was his first of the season. Lake Elsinore was 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and is now 0-for-26 w/RISP through the first three games of the series.
On The Mound: Eric Silva struck out a season-high six batters over 3 2/3 innings during his start. He allowed one run on three hits while issuing two walks. Jose Cruz struck out all four batters he faced during his relief stint. Hunter Dula (1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 3 SO) was credited his first win of the year.
Hitting Streaks End: Grant McCray (0-for-2, 2 BB) and Vaun Brown (0-for-4) saw their nine and seven game hitting streaks respectively come to an end.
First Place Tie: With Thursday's victory, the Giants moved back into a first-place tie with the Fresno Grizzlies (18-12) in the North Division standings.
On Deck: The Giants and Storm play the fourth game of their series on Friday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 6:30 PM. Keaton Winn is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.
California League Stories from May 13, 2022
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- Rancho Rocks Ports - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Stockton Ports Host Modesto Nuts May 17-22 - Stockton Ports
- Rawhide Walk off in the Ninth - Visalia Rawhide
- Giants Rally Late in 6-5 Comeback Win over Storm - San Jose Giants
- Quakes Erupt as Ports Sink in Loss - Stockton Ports
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