Giants Swept in Lake Elsinore
Published on May 27, 2018 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
LAKE ELSINORE, CA - Lake Elsinore's Brad Zunica hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Storm to a 5-3 victory over the Giants on Sunday afternoon at The Diamond. With the loss, San Jose was swept in the three-game series. The Giants (26-24) have now lost a season-high four straight overall while they finish their nine-game road trip with a 3-6 record.
Sandro Fabian (2-for-4, HR, RBI) had two hits, including his team-leading sixth home run of the season, for San Jose in defeat on Sunday. Jalen Miller (2-for-3, 2B), Dylan Manwaring (2-for-4, 2 2B) and Jacob Heyward (2-for-4) added two hits apiece. The Giants out-hit the Storm by a 10-7 margin, but went just 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.
With the score tied 3-3, the decisive eighth-inning rally began for Lake Elsinore with a leadoff single from Ruddy Giron. San Jose reliever Rodolfo Martinez came back to strikeout Edward Olivares, but Luis Torrens then doubled down the left field line to put runners on second and third. After an intentional walk to Hudson Potts that loaded the bases, Martinez registered a key strikeout of Jorge Ona for the second out. However, Zunica followed by lining a 2-1 pitch from Martinez into center field for a single. The hit easily scored both Giron and Torrens giving the Storm a 5-3 lead.
Blake Rogers (2-1) earned the win out of the Lake Elsinore bullpen after pitching a scoreless top of the eighth. Rogers allowed back-to-back two-out singles to Fabian and Kevin Rivera, but retired Manwaring on a fly out to the warning track in right to end the inning and keep the game tied.
David Bednar breezed through a 1-2-3 top of the ninth for the Storm to collect his fifth save of the season.
Martinez (3-4) suffered the loss after allowing two runs (both earned) on three hits during his lone inning of work.
The Giants jumped out early scoring single runs in the second and third innings to take a 2-0 lead. Fabian led off the top of the second with a towering home run to deep left. In the third, three straight one-out singles from Miller, Heyward and Wander Franco produced the second San Jose run of the contest.
Raffi Vizcaino started on the mound for the Giants and began his day with two scoreless innings. Lake Elsinore though would breakthrough in the bottom of the third as Matt Batten led off with an infield single to third before Buddy Reed stepped to the plate and belted a game-tying two-run home run to right. The homer was Reed's third of the series and team-leading ninth of the season. The rally then continued with an Olivares one-out single. Olivares stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Torrens' sacrifice fly to give the Storm a 3-2 lead.
San Jose rallied to tie game with a run in the top of the fifth. Miller led off by drawing a walk before Heyward lined a single into center to put runners on the corners. Franco then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play with Miller scoring to bring the Giants even at 3-3.
Vizcaino pitched four innings for San Jose with three runs (all earned) and four hits allowed. He walked three and struck out five during his 85-pitch outing.
Jeff Burke (3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) kept Lake Elsinore off the board in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings as the score remained at 3-3. Burke, who didn't allow a hit during his long relief outing, retired eight out of the nine batters he faced.
Storm reliever Elliot Ashbeck struck out five over two perfect innings in the sixth and seventh before Rogers escaped in the top of the eighth. The bullpen trio of Ashbeck, Rogers and Bednar combined on four scoreless innings with just two hits allowed, no walks and seven strikeouts.
Notes
* The Giants were swept in a series for the first time since June 15-18, 2017 when they dropped four straight games to Visalia at Municipal Stadium.
* San Jose hit just .177 (14-for-79) with runners in scoring position during their nine-game road trip.
* Manwaring, who was making his California League debut after joining the Giants from Extended Spring Training on Friday, doubled in his first two at-bats.
* Reed went 7-for-12 in the series with three home runs.
* Fabian has hit four home runs in his last seven games (after two homers in his first 35 games this season).
* San Jose fell four games behind first-place Stockton (30-20) in the first half North Division race - their largest deficit in the standings this season. 20 games remain in the half.
On Deck
The Giants return to Municipal Stadium on Monday to begin a season-high 10-game homestand. San Jose hosts Visalia in the opener of a four-game series Monday evening with first pitch scheduled for 5:00 PM. Melvin Adon (1-3, 4.56 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for the Giants while the Rawhide are expected to counter with Connor Grey (4-2, 4.57 ERA). The Giants will wear special military-themed jerseys for the Memorial Day game which fans can bid on with proceeds benefiting Operation: Care and Comfort. For tickets, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.
California League Stories from May 27, 2018
- Quakes Take Two of Three, Fall One out Shy of No-Hitter - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Heartbreaking Drop Costs Nuts in 1-0 Defeat - Modesto Nuts
- Lancaster Falls In High-Scoring Finale - Lancaster JetHawks
- Giants Swept in Lake Elsinore - San Jose Giants
- Rawhide Come out on Top in Pitcher's Duel - Visalia Rawhide
- Liberato Homers Twice But Nuts Fall 5-4 - Modesto Nuts
- Giants Drop Second Straight to Storm - San Jose Giants
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
