CalL San Jose Giants

Giants Win Wild 14-13 Slugfest over Rancho

August 20, 2021 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


The San Jose Giants outlasted Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday night to win a wild 14-13 slugfest at LoanMart Field. The Quakes twice overcame six-run deficits to tie the game before San Jose took the lead for good on a Rancho Cucamonga error in the top of the ninth. The two teams combined for 28 hits, eight errors and 12 pitchers used in the seesaw battle. The Giants (58-35) have now won the first three contests in the series and increased their lead over the Quakes (51-41) to 6 1/2 games in the race for the final playoff spot with exactly one month remaining in the regular season.

San Jose shortstop Ghordy Santos tied a team record on Thursday with seven RBI's to lead the Giants offensive attack. Santos finished the game 4-for-6 with two singles, a double and a three-run home run. He's the fourth player in the 33-year history of the team to drive in seven runs in a game.

The night began with a booming home run as San Jose leadoff hitter Abdiel Layer hit the second pitch of the game over the fence in right field for a solo shot. The mammoth 462-foot round-tripper was Layer's 10th homer of the season.

The Giants then extended their lead to 4-0 on Santos' three-run home run in the top of the third. Layer started the inning with a single before Yorlis Rodriguez was hit by a pitch. Santos then stepped to the plate and launched a towering fly ball to right center for a three-run blast. It was Santos' first home run since joining San Jose.

Meanwhile, Nick Swiney started on the mound for the Giants in his first outing with the club since the opening week of the season. The left-hander struck out two batters in each of the first two innings before surrendering an unearned run in the bottom of the third. A leadoff single and a one-out error in the third inning ended Swiney's night and with reliever Ty Weber on the mound, a sacrifice fly from Jose Ramos trimmed the San Jose lead to 4-1.

The Giants kept the pressure on with three more runs in the top of the fourth. A one-out walk to Rodolfo Bone and a single from Edison Mora put two runners on base for San Jose. After Layer struck out, Rodriguez grounded an RBI single into left. Santos then hit a high pop up into shallow right that was lost in the lights by multiple Quakes players. The play went for a double as both Mora and Rodriguez came home to make it 7-1.

Rancho Cucamonga then mounted their first comeback of the evening with six runs over the fourth and fifth innings to tie the game 7-7. In the bottom of the fourth, a dropped fly ball keyed the rally for the Quakes. With the bases loaded and one out, Edwin Mateo hit a deep fly ball to the warning track that bounced off the glove of left fielder Harrison Freed. The error allowed all three runners to score bringing Rancho Cucamonga to within 7-4. Jake Vogel followed with an RBI groundout to bring the margin to 7-5.

An inning later, Ramos led off with a double against reliever Wilkelma Castillo, took third on a groundout and scored when Alex DeJesus hit a sacrifice fly. The next batter, Imanol Vargas, then lined a solo home run to right center to tie the game 7-7.

The Giants though came right back with consecutive three-run innings to again build a sizable advantage. In the top of the sixth, Mora worked a leadoff walk and Santos singled with two down. After a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, Luis Matos lined a clutch single into right center field. The two-out hit scored both runners giving San Jose back the lead at 9-7. Matos then stole second and scored the Giants' 10th run of the game when Jimmy Glowenke reached on a throwing error committed by second baseman Luis Diaz.

After Jose Sanchez tossed a scoreless bottom of the sixth, San Jose's offense went right back to work in the top of the seventh. A walk to Freed started the inning. After a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch, Freed scored when Mora reached on an error. Back-to-back singles from Layer and Rodriguez then loaded the bases before Santos picked-up his sixth and seventh RBI's of the game with a line drive single into left center. The two-run hit pushed the Giants lead to 13-7.

Unfortunately, Rancho Cucamonga would once again overcome a six-run deficit. This time, all the scoring came at once as the Quakes erupted for six runs in the bottom of the seventh to stunningly tie the game 13-13. With Sanchez back on the mound, Sauryn Lao led off with a single before DeJesus walked. Vargas then bounced a single over the head of the third baseman Rodriguez to plate the first run of the inning. Diaz was up next and his sharp grounder to shortstop took a bad hop and skipped over Santos' glove. The play went for a double as DeJesus and Vargas scored to make it 13-10. Sanchez came back to strikeout the next two hitters before Vogel doubled sharply down the left field line to bring home Diaz for a 13-11 score. With the potential tying run at the plate, Brooks Crawford was summoned from the bullpen, but he walked Ismael Alcantara. Ramos then hit a shallow fly ball into right that dropped in for a hit. As the ball skipped away from the second baseman Glowenke and the sliding right fielder Mora, Vogel easily scored while Alcantara raced around third. The throw in from right field beat Alcantara to the plate, but the Quakes baserunner knocked the ball out of the glove of the catcher Bone with a slide to tie the game 13-13.

Both teams were set down quietly in the eighth inning with Crawford tossing the only 1-2-3 frame of the contest. The Giants then used a Rancho Cucamonga error to vault back into the lead in the top of the ninth. Facing Quakes closer Carlos Alejo, the rally began with Rodriguez belting a one-out double to deep left center. After Santos struck out for the second out, Matos hit a slow grounder to shortstop. DeJesus fielded the ball for Rancho Cucamonga, but airmailed his throw over first base and into the stands. Matos was credited with an infield single and with the ball out of play, Rodriguez was awarded home on the error to give San Jose a 14-13 lead.

The Quakes would threaten in the bottom of the ninth, but Crawford escaped the jam to seal the victory. With one out, Mateo hit a high pop up on the infield that was dropped by Santos for the Giants' fourth error of the game. Mateo then stole second to put the potential tying run into scoring position. Crawford though came back to set down Vogel on a line out to center and then retired Alcantara on a routine fly ball to center securing the thrilling win for San Jose.

GIANTS NOTES

Slugfest

The 14 runs for the Giants on Thursday matched a season-high. The 27 combined runs between the two teams were the most in a San Jose game this year.

Santos Ties Record

Ghordy Santos joined Royce Clayton (1990), Keith Williams (1994) and Pat Dobson (2006) as the only San Jose Giants players to collect seven RBI's in a game. Santos, who was playing only his third game with the Giants after joining the team last Sunday, finished a triple shy of the cycle.

Inside The Box Score

The Giants out-hit the Quakes 15-13. San Jose was 7-for-17 with runners in scoring position. The Giants won despite striking out a season-high 21 times.

Other Hitting Standouts

Abdiel Layer (3-for-6, HR, RBI) and Yorlis Rodriguez (3-for-5, 2B, RBI) had three hits apiece for San Jose. The 1-2-3 spots in the Giants lineup - Layer, Rodriguez and Santos - were a combined 10-for-17 with eight runs scored and nine RBI's. Luis Matos (2-for-6, 2 RBI, SB) also finished with a multi-hit game. Matos now leads Low-A West with 73 RBI's this season.

On The Mound

Brooks Crawford (5-1) earned the win after tossing the final 2 1/3 innings. Crawford surrendered only one hit and one run. He walked one and struck out two. He retired seven of the final eight Quakes hitters of the game. Nick Swiney (2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO) was making his first appearance with San Jose since May 7. Swiney was activated off the injured list last weekend.

Versus The Quakes

The Giants improved to 8-1 against Rancho Cucamonga this season. San Jose took five of six from the Quakes at Excite Ballpark in June and have now won the first three games of the current series in Rancho Cucamonga.

On Deck

The Giants and Quakes continue their series on Friday evening with first pitch at LoanMart Field set for 6:30 PM. Wil Jensen is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

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