Giants Rout 66ers to Complete Series Sweep
August 6, 2012 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
SAN BERNARDINO - The San Jose Giants completed a sweep of Inland Empire with a 12-4 victory over the 66ers on Sunday evening at San Manuel Stadium. Adam Duvall and Brennan Metzger each homered as part of a 16-hit offensive attack while the Giants scored 33 runs during the three-game series. San Jose has now won six out of their last seven games to improve their overall record to 59-54.
Duvall's (1-for-5, HR, 4 RBI) league-leading 24th home run of the season was a three-run blast in the top of the fifth inning to put the Giants in front for good. Metzger (1-for-1, HR, 2 RBI) came off the bench to hit the first home run of his career while Alex Burg (3- for-5, 2B) and Andrew Susac (3-for-4, 2 RBI) contributed three hits apiece.
San Jose trailed by a 2-1 score until erupting for five runs in the top of the fifth inning. Jarrad Page began the frame with a bunt single before stealing second base. Chris Lofton then reached on a bunt single to move Page over to third. After Lofton stole second and Carter Jurica walked to load the bases, Joe Panik grounded into a fielder's choice for the first out, however Page scored on the play to tie the game 2-2. Duvall was up next and he blasted a three-run homer to deep left field giving the Giants a 5-2 lead.
The rally restarted when Ricky Oropesa followed the home run with a bloop single down the left field line. After Burg flied out and Metzger was hit by a pitch, Susac lined an RBI single into center for a 6-2 advantage.
Inland Empire plated a single run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the deficit to 6-3 before the Giants scored twice in the seventh. With one out, Burg singled before Metzger stepped to the plate and launched a two-run home run down the left field line for an 8-3 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh against reliever Shawn Sanford, Ryan Jones delivered a two-out, RBI single to trim the San Jose lead to 8-4. Sanford though was able to leave runners at second and third as he induced Jett Bandy to fly out to end the inning.
The Giants then blew the game open with a four-run top of the ninth inning. Consecutive singles from Dan Burkhart and Burg started the frame before Metzger was hit by a pitch to load the bases with none out. Susac then drew a walk to force home the first run of the frame. Page followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 10-4 and after Lofton grounded out, Jurica lined a two-run single to left for a 12-4 lead.
Edward Concepcion (4-3) was credited with the win after limiting the 66ers to a single run over 3 1/3 innings out of the bullpen. Concepcion, who entered the game with two outs in the bottom of the third, allowed three hits with no walks and two strikeouts.
Sanford (1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO) pitched the bottom of the seventh for San Jose before Phil McCormick (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) and Craig Whitaker (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) tossed perfect eighth and ninth inning respectively to finish the game.
The Giants initially took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Panik belted a one-out triple off the fence in deep right center before scoring on Duvall's groundout to shortstop.
Kelvin Marte started on the mound for San Jose and tossed the first 2 2/3 innings yielding two runs (both earned) on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Marte fired a 1-2-3 bottom of the first, but then allowed single runs over the next two innings. In the bottom of the second, C.J. Cron led off with a double and scored two batters later on Jones' sacrifice fly. Then in the third, a two-out RBI single from Randal Grichuk gave the 66ers their first lead of the series at 2-1. After Marte walked the next batter, Jones, to load the bases, Concepcion was summoned from the bullpen and he promptly retired Bandy on a pop out to keep the Giants within a run.
Concepcion then held Inland Empire off the scoreboard in the fourth and fifth innings pitching around a two-out single in each frame.
66ers starting pitcher Andrew Smith (2-1) suffered the loss after surrendering six runs (all earned) on nine hits over 4 2/3 innings.
Notes: San Jose earned their first series sweep of the second half ... The Giants last swept a series when they took all three games at Bakersfield from May 24-26 ... Duvall finished the three-game set against the 66ers with four home runs and 11 RBI's ... He became the first San Jose player this season to homer in three straight games ... Panik (1-for-6, 3B, RBI) extended his hitting streak to 12 games ... Duvall and Jurica (1-for-5, 2 RBI) extended their hitting streaks to 11 and 10 games respectively ... Duvall has eight home runs and 21 RBI's over his last 11 games ... The Giants out-hit the 66ers by a 16-9 margin ... Oropesa (2-for-3) and Lofton (2-for-5, SB) also finished with more than one hit for San Jose ... The Giants (59-54) own a two-game lead over the Modesto Nuts (57-56) in the North Division wild card race.
On Deck: After an off day, the Giants continue their road trip on Tuesday evening with the opener of a three-game series at Stockton. First pitch at Banner Island Ballpark is scheduled for 7:05 PM. Ryan Bradley (6-6, 4.77 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while the Ports are expected to counter with Blake Hassebrock (2-5, 8.08 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM.
California League Stories from August 6, 2012
- Giants Rout 66ers to Complete Series Sweep - San Jose Giants
- Win Streak Stopped at Three, as Quakes Fall Short on Sunday - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- 66ers Swept by San Jose - Inland Empire 66ers
- Blaze Lose 9th Inning Lead, Fall in Extras, 6-5 - Bakersfield Blaze
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