CalL San Jose Giants

Giants Spoil Stockton's Home Opener, Win Streak at Four

May 12, 2021 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


The Giants went into Banner Island Ballpark on Tuesday night and spoiled Stockton's home opener with a masterful pitching performance and a three-homer outburst at the plate. Ryan Murphy struck out 11 Ports batters over 4 2/3 scoreless innings in a dominant start on the mound while Alex Canario, Luis Matos and Casey Schmitt each homered to lead San Jose to a 5-1 victory. The win was the Giants' fourth in a row.

Tuesday marked the start of San Jose's first road trip of the season and the Giants' run of outstanding pitching would continue. Murphy along with relievers Jorge Labrador, Luis Moreno, Chris Wright and Clay Helvey combined on a two-hitter with a whopping 19 strikeouts in the victory.

San Jose opened the scoring with a long ball in the top of the second when Canario stepped to the plate and launched a tape-measure blast to deep left for a 1-0 lead. The home run was Canario's first of the season.

An inning later, Jimmy Glowenke led off with a single before Marco Luciano's two-out single put runners on the first and third. Armani Smith was up next and he ripped an RBI single into left to extend the lead to 2-0.

Meanwhile, Murphy was carving up the Ports lineup throughout his start. The right-hander pitched around a walk and a single in the bottom of the first before striking out the side in both the second and third innings. His run of six consecutive punchouts ended with a leadoff walk to Brayan Buelvas in the bottom of the fourth, but three straight strikeouts of Tyler Soderstrom, Junior Perez and Lawrence Butler followed to end the inning.

The Giants' second homer of the game then pushed the lead further in the top of the fifth. Following a one-out walk to Edison Mora, Matos crushed an 0-2 pitch over the wall in left center for a two-run home run. The round-tripper, Matos' first of the year, made it a 4-0 game.

Murphy returned to the mound in the bottom of the fifth and recorded two quick outs, including his 11th strikeout of the night, before exiting the contest. Labrador entered and after issuing a two-out walk, notched the club's 12th strikeout of the game to finish the inning.

Stockton scored what turned out to be their only run of the evening when Buelvas took Labrador deep for a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth. The home run cut the San Jose lead to 4-1. Labrador though prevented further damage in the inning before Moreno pitched around a one-out walk and a two-out hit batter in a scoreless bottom of the seventh. With the potential tying run at the plate, Moreno registered a key strikeout of Robert Puason to end the threat.

After Wright breezed through a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth with two more strikeouts for the Giants, Schmitt pushed the lead back to four runs with a line drive solo homer down the left field line in the top of the ninth.

The bottom of the ninth saw San Jose pitching issue three walks while also having to endure a power delay, but Helvey managed to slam the door with a game-ending double play. Wright issued a leadoff walk to Perez and a one-out walk to Bautista before a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. Then with a 2-2 count on Schofield-Sam, all the stadium lights went out at Banner Island Ballpark resulting in a 19-minute delay. When the lights finally came back on, Helvey was summoned from the bullpen, but he promptly threw two balls to walk Schofield-Sam loading the bases. Joshwan Wright was up next as the possible tying run and his chopper up the middle was gloved by Glowenke at second, who stepped on the base to force out Schofield-Sam and then threw to first to complete the game-ending double play.

Ryan Murphy allowed only one hit and struck out 11 over 4 2/3 scoreless innings on Tuesday night

GIANTS NOTES

Pitching Shines

During the current four-game winning streak, the Giants pitching staff has fashioned a 1.50 team ERA with 58 strikeouts in 36 innings.

The Long Ball

San Jose's three home runs on Tuesday were a season-high. Casey Schmitt's homer was his team-leading second of the year. The Giants have now hit five home runs over their last two games after going homer-less in their first five games this season.

Murphy Dazzles

Ryan Murphy struck out 11 of the 16 batters he faced. The 2020 fifth round draft pick was making only his second career start as a professional. Overall, Murphy allowed only one hit during his 4 2/3 innings. He threw 70 pitches.

In The 'Pen

Jorge Labrador (1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 3 SO) was credited with the win out of the bullpen while Clay Helvey (2/3 IP, 0 R) earned his first save of the year.

Smith Extends Hitting Streak

Armani Smith (2-for-4, RBI) extended his hitting streak to six games. He was the only Giants player with more than one hit on Tuesday.

Versus The Ports

Tuesday marked the first of 30 games this season between San Jose and Stockton. The first 18 games played between the teams will be at Banner Island Ballpark.

On Deck

The Giants and Ports continue their six-game series on Wednesday evening with first pitch at Banner Island Ballpark set for 7:05 PM. Carson Ragsdale is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

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California League Stories from May 12, 2021


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