CalL San Jose Giants

Giants Top Grizzlies, Remain in First Place

Published on July 9, 2021 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


The San Jose Giants snapped their three-game skid and moved back into sole possession of first place in Low-A West with a 7-3 victory over the Fresno Grizzlies on Thursday night at Excite Ballpark. Alex Canario homered, Luis Matos supplied three extra-base hits and the Giants bullpen tossed six scoreless innings in the win. With the victory, San Jose (37-20) moved back to one game ahead of Fresno (36-21) for the best record in the league.

Thursday's contest began as a seesaw affair. Fresno jumped out with a run in the top of the first without picking-up a hit in the inning. Facing Giants starter Carson Ragsdale, the game began with Eddy Diaz reaching safely on an error. After Diaz stole second, Zac Veen worked a walk. Following a double steal, Ezequiel Tovar hit a sacrifice fly to center for a 1-0 Grizzlies advantage.

San Jose immediately answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the first as Jimmy Glowenke led off with a double to deep left. Jairo Pomares was then hit by a pitch with one out before Marco Luciano grounded a single into left to load the bases. A strikeout of Matos followed for the second out, but Canario then worked an 11-pitch walk to force home Glowenke with the tying run.

Fresno went right back in front when Mateo Gil connected for a solo home run in the top of the second, but the Giants once again responded in the bottom of the frame. With one out, Fabian Pena laced a double down the left field line. After Glowenke walked, Luis Toribio stepped to the plate and lined an RBI single into right to tie the game. Pomares followed with a sacrifice fly as Glowenke scored to give San Jose a 3-2 lead.

The teams continued to go back-and-forth as the Grizzlies pushed across a single tally in the top of the third to again tie the game. With one out, Tovar singled and stole second. Then with two down, Drew Romo hit an RBI double to tie the score 3-3.

Ragsdale completed the top of the third with the game still tied before the Giants bullpen took over and kept Fresno off the scoreboard for the remainder of the night.

Abel Adames was summoned to begin the top of the fourth and the right-hander fired two scoreless innings in his San Jose debut. Adames needed just nine pitches to work a 1-2-3 fourth inning before pitching around a pair of singles in the fifth to keep the game tied.

The Giants then went ahead for good when Canario led off the bottom of the fifth with a towering home run to deep center. The 417-foot blast, Canario's eighth home run of the year, gave San Jose a 4-3 lead.

After Juan Sanchez breezed through a perfect top of the sixth, the Giants kept the pressure on with another run in the bottom of the inning. Toribio led off with a single - his third hit of the game. Pomares followed with a fielder's choice grounder as Toribio was forced out at second. After Luciano struck out, Matos hit a grounder inside first base and down the right field line. Pomares scored all the way from first on the play to make it 5-3 as Matos raced into third with his first triple of the year.

Sanchez maintained the two-run lead with a scoreless top of the seventh before Randy Rodriguez entered in the eighth and was able to pitch out of a bases loaded, one out jam. Back-to-back singles from Tovar and Grant Lavigne started the top of the eighth for the Grizzlies. Rodriguez came back with a strikeout of Romo, but the strike three pitch deflected off the glove of Pena for a passed ball allowing the runners to move to second and third. A walk to Daniel Montano followed to load the bases and put the potential go-ahead run aboard. However, Rodriguez recovered to set down Gil on a pop out to shortstop before Colin Simpson fouled out to Pena on the first pitch of his at-bat to end the inning.

San Jose then plated two insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to extend their lead to 7-3. Glowenke was hit by a pitch to start the inning before Toribio drew a walk. Both runners moved up on a groundout and with two down in the inning, Matos' shallow fly ball into right bounced off the glove of the sprinting second baseman Diaz for a bloop double. The clutch hit scored both Glowenke and Toribio to stretch the Giants lead to four runs.

Rodriguez closed out Fresno with a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.

GIANTS NOTES

Losing Streak Snapped

The Giants entered Thursday on a season-high tying three-game losing streak. It was only the second time all year that San Jose had dropped three in a row. The Giants improved to 8-7 against Fresno this season.

Hitting Leaders

Luis Matos went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple and three RBI's to lead a 12-hit Giants offensive attack. Luis Toribio (3-for-4, RBI) added three singles while Marco Luciano (2-for-5) also finished with a multi-hit game. Alex Canario's (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) eighth home run ties him with Casey Schmitt for second on the team (Luciano leads with 14 HR). Jimmy Glowenke (1-for-3, 2B, 2 BB) also reached base three times from the leadoff spot and scored three runs.

Bullpen Excels

The bullpen trio of Abel Adames (2 IP, 2 H, 1 SO), Juan Sanchez (2 IP, 1 H, 2 SO) and Randy Rodriguez (2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 SO) combined to throw six scoreless innings to finish the game. Adames, who joined San Jose earlier in the series from the Arizona Complex League (rookie-level), was credited with the win. Rodriguez earned his second save of the year.

Pomares' Streak Ends

Jairo Pomares entered Thursday with a hit in eight consecutive at-bats. He was hit by a pitch in the first inning before his sacrifice fly in the second. The streak then ended when he struck out swinging in the bottom of the fourth. Pomares (0-for-3, RBI) still leads the Giants with a .370 batting average. The California League/Low-A West record for consecutive at-bats with a hit is 10.

Odds And Ends

Fresno was only 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Grizzlies stole six bases in the game (all in the first three innings), but were also caught on three occasions - all at second base. Giants starter Carson Ragsdale pitched three innings with three runs (two earned) and four hits allowed. He walked three and struck out four. The two starting pitchers - Ragsdale and Fresno's Mike Ruff - combined to throw 68 pitches in the first inning. Toribio started at first base for the first time in his three-year professional career. He had previously only played third base.

Roster Move

San Jose's busy week of roster moves continued as relief pitcher Jorge Labrador was transferred to the Arizona Complex League before the game on Thursday.

First Place

The Giants have been in first place since June 11 - a streak of 28 consecutive days.

On Deck

The Giants and Grizzlies play the fourth game of their six-game series on Friday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 6:30 PM. Ryan Murphy is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

Check out the San Jose Giants Statistics

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California League Stories from July 9, 2021


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