Giants Rally Late, Win in Extras over Grizzlies
May 23, 2021 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
The Giants overcame a late three-run deficit on Saturday night before pulling out an exciting 5-4, 10-inning win over the Fresno Grizzlies at Chukchansi Park. A wild pitch in the top of the 10th put San Jose ahead before reliever Justin Crump slammed the door in the bottom of the inning to secure the victory. The Giants (10-7) have now won three of the first five games in the series against Fresno.
Luis Matos' two-out, two-RBI single in the top of the seventh capped a three-run rally for San Jose that tied the game. Clay Helvey then kept the Grizzlies off the board in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings with outstanding relief work before the Giants went ahead for good in the top of the 10th.
San Jose jumped out two pitches into the game as Abdiel Layer hit a leadoff home run to right in the top of the first for an early 1-0 lead. The homer was Layer's league-leading fifth of the season.
Carson Ragsdale started on the mound for the Giants and began his night with two perfect innings striking out three of the first six hitters that he faced. Fresno though would rally for three runs off of Ragsdale in the bottom of the third to take a 3-1 lead. Mateo Gil led off with a double into the left field corner before Bladimir Restituyo's one-out single put runners on the corners. Issac Collins then blasted a double to the fence in deep left center to score both Gil and Restituyo putting the Grizzlies in front. Two batters later, Ezequiel Tovar's two-out RBI single made it 3-1.
Ragsdale recovered to toss two more scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth to complete his outing before Fresno extended their lead in the bottom of the sixth. With Juan Sanchez on the mound, Tovar led off with a double and eventually scored on Zac Veen's two-out single for a 4-1 Grizzlies advantage.
Meanwhile, the San Jose offense was quiet as the Giants managed only one baserunner from the second through the sixth innings before finally breaking through in the top of the seventh. After the first two batters of the seventh were retired, Luis Toribio smacked a double into right center field. Garrett Frechette then singled sharply down the left field line to score Toribio bringing San Jose to within 4-2. Jimmy Glowenke was up next and he doubled into the right field corner to put runners on second and third. After Layer walked to load the bases, Matos came through with the clutch hit as he grounded a single through the hole on the right side to easily score both Frechette and Glowenke to tie the game 4-4.
Helvey then came on out of the Giants bullpen to begin the bottom of the seventh and escaped run-scoring threats in each of the next three innings to keep San Jose in the game. In the seventh, Restituyo singled with one out and Collins drew a walk, but Helvey induced Julio Carreras to ground into an inning-ending double play.
With the score still tied, Fresno put the potential go-ahead run at third base with none out in the bottom of the eighth, but failed to score. Tovar led off with a hard grounder that skipped through the legs of Frechette at first for a two-base error. Helvey then uncorked a wild pitch to move Tovar over to third. The Giants reliever though would find a way through the inning as Grant Lavigne was retired on a comebacker for the first out. Drew Romo then bounced out to second with Tovar remaining at third. After Veen walked, Helvey then induced Gil to ground out to third for the final out of the inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Grizzlies put the winning run into scoring position, but Helvey once again escaped. With one out, Restituyo blooped a double into shallow left center before an intentional walk to Collins was issued. Carreras was up next and he grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to retire the side and send the game into extra innings.
In the 10th, San Jose would take advantage of their free runner at second base while Fresno did not. Layer led off the top half with a deep fly out to left center as Glowenke, the automatic runner, tagged up and went to third. Matos then grounded out, but with Tyler Flores at the plate, Grizzlies reliever Finn Del Bonta-Smith threw a wild pitch allowing Glowenke to score for a 5-4 Giants lead.
Crump then took over on the mound in the bottom of the 10th and he would strand the automatic runner at second to seal the thrilling San Jose victory. With Carreras at second, Tovar popped out to shallow left center for the first out before Lavigne struck out looking on a full-count pitch. After Romo walked to put the potential winning run on base, Crump got Veen, the #1 prospect in the Rockies farm system, to strikeout on a pitch in the dirt to end the game.
Clay Helvey worked three scoreless innings out of the bullpen on Saturday to earn the win
GIANTS NOTES
Bullpen Standouts
Clay Helvey earned his first win of the season after tossing three scoreless innings. He worked around two hits and three walks (one intentional) while recording one strikeout during his 46-pitch performance. Justin Crump (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO) was credited with the first save of his professional career.
Extra, Extra
Saturday marked the Giants' first extra-inning game of the season.
Hitting Leaders
Ricardo Genoves (2-for-5) and Garrett Frechette (2-for-4) had multi-hit games for the Giants. Abdiel Layer (1-for-4, HR, RBI) has now hit five home runs over his last six games played while Luis Matos (1-for-5, 2 RBI) picked-up his team-leading 11th and 12th RBI's of the season with his clutch seventh-inning single.
Comeback Win
Saturday was San Jose's largest deficit overcome to win a game so far this season (three runs). It was also the first time that the Giants won when trailing after six innings.
Ragsdale's Start
Carson Ragsdale registered nine strikeouts without issuing a walk during his five-inning start. The right-hander was charged with three runs (all earned). Ragsdale has now struck out 23 batters in 14 innings pitched this season.
Winning Road Trip
The Giants improved to 7-4 on their current road trip with one game remaining.
On Deck
The Giants and Grizzlies conclude their six-game series on Sunday afternoon with first pitch at Chukchansi Park set for 1:05 PM. Ryan Murphy is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.
California League Stories from May 23, 2021
- Storm's Dominant Offense Makes Thunderous Return in WinÃâà- Lake Elsinore Storm
- Storm with a Huge 8th to Win on Sunday - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Lowriders Stall Late as San Jose Takes Series - Fresno Grizzlies
- Early Wildness Costs Nuts in 5-3 Loss - Modesto Nuts
- Giants Curb Lowriders 5-4 in Extras - Fresno Grizzlies
- Ports Fall to Rawhide in Ninth - Stockton Ports
- Giants Rally Late, Win in Extras over Grizzlies - San Jose Giants
- Nuts Capitalize on Miscues in 10-7 Win - Modesto Nuts
- Rancho Calms Storm Yet Again - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Quakes Pitching Overwhelms Storm Offense in Loss - Lake Elsinore Storm
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