CalL San Jose Giants

Grizzlies Edge Giants to Take Series

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


The San Jose Giants suffered their first road series loss of the season following a 4-3 defeat to the Fresno Grizzlies on Sunday evening at Chukchansi Park. Fresno used a two-run bottom of the sixth inning to take their first lead of the night and then held off San Jose late to secure the win. With the loss, the Giants (53-31) drop four of six in the series and now stand three games behind the Grizzlies (56-28) for the best record in the league.

San Jose enjoyed a 3-1 lead after 3 1/2 innings on Sunday scoring twice in the top of the third before adding another run in the fourth. With the game scoreless, Najee Gaskins began the third-inning rally for the Giants by drawing a two-out walk. Yorlis Rodriguez then hit a grounder that skipped through the legs of Fresno third baseman Warming Bernabel and down the left field line. Gaskins was able to take third on the error while Rodriguez made it safely into second. Luis Toribio was up next and he grounded a single into left center plating both runners for a 2-0 San Jose advantage.

The Grizzlies immediately got one run back in the bottom of the third when Trevor Boone connected for a solo homer off of Giants starter Wil Jensen. The home run was Boone's third of the series.

San Jose though answered in the top of the fourth as Jairo Pomares led off with a double to deep right center before Carter Williams singled to put runners on the corners. Casey Schmitt was up next and he hammered a fly ball that was caught by a leaping Bladimir Restituyo on the warning track in deep center. The play went for a sacrifice fly as Pomares came home to make it 3-1.

Unfortunately, the Giants wouldn't score again for the remainder of the night and mustered only one hit after the fourth inning.

After Jensen struck out two in a scoreless bottom of the fourth, Fresno cut into the San Jose lead with a single tally in the fifth inning. Consecutive one-out singles from Restituyo and Eddy Diaz put runners on first and third for the Grizzlies. Julio Carreras then hit a sacrifice fly plating Restituyo to bring Fresno to within 3-2.

Jensen returned to the mound in the bottom of the sixth, but would run into more trouble. With one out, Mateo Gil singled and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Joe Aeilts followed with an RBI single as Gil came home to tie the game 3-3. The hit knocked Jensen out of the game as Randy Rodriguez was summoned from the bullpen, but he promptly walked AJ Lewis to move the go-ahead run into scoring position. A strikeout of Boone followed for the second out of the inning, but Restituyo then came up and doubled into left center to score Aeilts giving the Grizzlies their first lead at 4-3.

The one-run advantage held up for Fresno as the Giants were set down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh. Toribio hit a bloop double into shallow center with two outs in the top of the eighth, but was stranded when the next hitter, Luis Matos, grounded out. Torbio's hit snapped a streak of 14 consecutive San Jose batters that were retired going back to the fourth inning. Then in the ninth, Pomares worked a leadoff walk to put the potential tying run on base, but Williams popped out, Schmitt struck out and Rodolfo Bone grounded out to end the game.

GIANTS NOTES

Close Calls

Following Sunday's result, four of the six games in the series were decided by one run (two wins for each team). San Jose fell to 10-14 against Fresno this season. 17 of the 24 games have been one or two-run contests.

At The Plate

Luis Toribio (3-for-4, 2 2B) had half of San Jose's six hits on Sunday to lead the way offensively. Toribio hit his 16th and 17th doubles of the season. Jairo Pomares (1-for-3, 2B) added his 19th double of the year and finished the series with nine hits in 22 at-bats (.409 AVG). The Grizzlies out-hit the Giants 13-6 on Sunday.

Back-To-Back Road Losses

With setbacks in the final two games of the series, the Giants dropped back-to-back road contests for the first time since May 12-13 (at Stockton - first road trip of the season). San Jose is 28-14 on the road this year.

On The Mound

Wil Jensen (5-2) was saddled with the loss after yielding four runs (all earned) on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out four. Randy Rodriguez (1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 SO) and Jesus Tona (1 IP, 2 H, 1 SO) combined to work 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.

Playoff Race

San Jose's (53-31) lead over third-place Rancho Cucamonga (47-35) was trimmed to five games for the final playoff spot in the Low-A West. 36 games remain in the regular season.

On Deck

Following an off day, the Giants return to Excite Ballpark on Tuesday night to open a six-game series against the Modesto Nuts. First pitch at Excite Ballpark is set for 6:30 PM. Visit sjgiants.com for tickets and a list of promotions for the upcoming homestand.

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California League Stories from August 9, 2021


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