CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Rally Past Quakes in Homestand Finale, 6-5

Published on May 7, 2013 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE - Angel Villalona hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh inning and the San Jose Giants overcame an early three-run deficit to earn a 6-5 victory over the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes on Monday evening at Municipal Stadium. Devin Harris added his league-leading 10th home run of the season as San Jose salvaged the final game of the four-game series.

Elliott Blair (2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI) had a pair of hits, including a key two-run double, to lead the Giants offensive attack. Ryan Cavan (1-for-3, 2B) also extended his hitting streak to 16 games in the win.

San Jose trailed by a 5-2 score until beginning their comeback with a two-run bottom of the fourth. Consecutive two-out walks to Bobby Haney and Shawn Payne put runners on first and second before Blair clubbed a double to deep left center. The hit scored both runners and trimmed the Quakes lead to 5-4.

In the bottom of the fifth, Harris led off with a towering home run down the left field line to tie the game 5-5.

The Giants then took their first lead of the night with a single run in the bottom of the seventh. Cavan led off with a double off the wall in right center. Harris' fly out to right then moved Cavan to third before Mac Williamson drew a nine-pitch walk. Villalona was up next and he lifted a sacrifice fly to center as Cavan raced home with the go-ahead tally.

Cody Hall (1-0) was credited with the win out of the San Jose bullpen after tossing two scoreless innings over the sixth and seventh. Hall allowed just one hit with no walks and three strikeouts during his stint on the mound.

After the Giants took the lead, Bryce Bandilla (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) needed just nine pitches to work through a perfect top of the eighth. Hunter Strickland (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) then pitched the ninth for San Jose to record his fourth save of the year. Ryan Mount singled with two outs in the ninth to put the potential tying run on base, but Strickland set down the next hitter, Noel Cuevas, on a pop out to second to end the game.

Rancho Cucamonga reliever Pedro Baez (1-1) suffered the loss after allowing the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh.

Clayton Blackburn started on the mound for the Giants and matched a season-high with nine strikeouts over five innings of work. Blackburn allowed just three hits, but five runs (three earned). The right-hander also walked two.

The Quakes took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first as Darnell Sweeney walked with two outs before O'Koyea Dickson lined a two-run homer to left center. The home run was Dickson's team-leading fifth of the season.

San Jose though quickly tied the game with single runs in the first and second innings. In the bottom of the first, Payne reached on an error to leadoff, advanced to second on Blair's single and moved to third when Cavan flied out. Payne eventually scored when the strike three pitch to Williamson, which should have ended the inning, bounced off the glove of the catcher Pratt Maynard for a passed ball.

The Giants tied the game in the bottom of the second as Haney drew a two-out walk and immediately scored when the next batter, Payne, bounced a double into the left field corner.

Blackburn had retired seven straight Rancho Cucamonga hitters until Dickson walked to begin the top of the fourth. After Angelo Songco struck out, Jonathan Garcia's grounder to shortstop was misplayed by Haney for an error. Mount then doubled home Dickson to give the Quakes back the lead at 3-2. After Cuevas struck out, Rob Garvey grounded a single down the left field line to score two more for a 5-2 advantage. Rancho Cucamonga though would manage only two more baserunners for the remainder of the game - Garvey's one-out single off Hall in the seventh and Mount's ninth-inning single against Strickland.

Notes: Monday's victory snapped San Jose's season-high three-game losing streak ... The Giants finished their homestand with a 2-5 record ... San Jose pitchers combined for 13 strikeouts ... Harris was mired in an 0-for-14 slump before his fifth-inning home run ... Blair was hitless in 21 straight at-bats until his first-inning single ... The Giants out-hit the Quakes by a 7-5 margin ... San Jose won despite going just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position ... Payne stole two bases to increase his team-leading total to 12 ... The Giants (20-11) moved back into a first-place tie with the Visalia Rawhide (20-11) in the first half North Division race.

On Deck: The Giants begin a three-game series in Bakersfield on Tuesday night. First pitch against the Blaze at Sam Lynn Ballpark is scheduled for 7:30 PM. Edwin Escobar (0-0, 2.16 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Bakersfield is expected to counter with Jonathan Moscot (0-4, 6.51 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 7:00 PM.

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California League Stories from May 7, 2013


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