CalL San Jose Giants

Harrison Overpowers Rawhide, Bailey Hits Key Homer in 5-2 Win

Published on September 3, 2021 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


Kyle Harrison struck out a career-high 12 in a dominant five-inning start and Patrick Bailey hit a key three-run home run to lead the Giants to a 5-2 victory over the Visalia Rawhide on Thursday night at Excite Ballpark. San Jose pitchers collected a total of 17 strikeouts in the contest as the Giants have now claimed two of the first three games in the series.

With the win, San Jose (65-40) increased their lead over third-place Modesto (58-47) to seven games in the race for the final Low-A West playoff spot. 15 games remain in the regular season.

Harrison delivered a spectacular outing on Thursday as the left-hander kept the Rawhide off the scoreboard throughout his five-inning performance. Harrison struck out two in a scoreless top of the first inning to begin the night. In the second, Adrian Del Castillo led off with a double, but was stranded at second when Harrison struck out the next three hitters. The following inning, SP Chen was hit by a pitch to leadoff, but was later picked-off by Harrison. The Giants starter struck out two more hitters in the frame.

With the game still scoreless, Visalia threatened in the top of the fourth, but ultimately left the bases loaded. After Harrison struck out the first two hitters of the inning, Del Castillo was hit by a pitch and Wildred Patino doubled to put runners on second and third. Ramses Malave then worked a walk to load the bases, but Harrison recovered to strikeout Glenallen Hill Jr. to retire the side. The punchout was Harrison's 10th of the game to match his career-high.

Harrison returned to the mound in the top of the fifth and promptly struck out Chen to start the inning establishing a new career-high. After Ryan Bliss popped out, Tim Tawa struck out swinging - Harrison's 12th and final strikeout of the evening - to end the inning.

Offensively, the Giants had opportunities early in the game, but went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position over the first four innings. The Giants though would finally breakthrough in the bottom of the fifth on Bailey's bomb. Consecutive singles from Abdiel Layer and Ghordy Santos started the inning before Jimmy Glowenke grounded out to advance the runners to second and third. After Luis Toribio struck out for the second out of the inning, Bailey came up and hit a towering fly ball to right field that sailed over the fence for a three-run home run. The homer was Bailey's sixth of the season with San Jose and it gave the Giants a 3-0 lead.

After Randy Rodriguez fanned three in a scoreless top of the sixth out of the bullpen, San Jose added to their lead with a single tally in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Yorlis Rodriguez worked a walk before Grant McCray reached on a bunt single. Then with two down, Santos' pop up to third base was dropped by Visalia's Deyvison De Los Santos for an error allowing Rodriguez to score for a 4-0 advantage.

In the top of the seventh, Randy Rodriguez allowed a leadoff single to Malave, but came back to strikeout the next two hitters before Bliss flied out to deep left. Clay Helvey then needed only eight pitches to work a 1-2-3 top of the eighth.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Giants extended their lead as Rodriguez walked with one out before McCray singled. Layer then produced his third hit of the night as he singled into right center plating Rodriguez to make it 5-0.

The Rawhide entered the top of the ninth down by five, but would bring the potential tying run to the plate with two outs before Helvey was able to slam the door. Caleb Roberts led off with a bloop double into shallow center before Patino reached safely on a throwing error committed by Layer at shortstop. Malave was up next and he singled into center bringing home Roberts with the first Visalia run of the night. Helvey quickly bounced back to record back-to-back outs as both Hill Jr. and Chen grounded into a force outs. Chen's grounder scored Patino to make it a 5-2 game. With the Rawhide then down to their final out, Bliss worked a full-count walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Helvey though came back from a 3-0 count to retire Tawa on a groundout to shortstop to end the game.

GIANTS NOTES

Harrison's Gem

Kyle Harrison allowed only two hits over his five scoreless innings on Thursday. He walked two and hit two batters. Harrison's 12 strikeouts matched the most by a Giants pitcher in a game this season (Ryan Murphy and Carson Ragsdale). 11 of the 12 punchouts were swinging strikeouts. Over his last five starts, Harrison owns a 0.87 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings.

Rodriguez Extends Streak

Randy Rodriguez struck out five over his two scoreless innings of relief. With Thursday's outing, Rodriguez extended his scoreless inning streak to 17 2/3 - the longest by a Giants pitcher this season.

Bailey's Blast

Patrick Bailey (1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI) has now hit five home runs over his last 12 games. He's batting at a .383 clip (18-for-47) during the stretch.

Inside The Box Score

The Giants out-hit the Rawhide 9-6. The teams were a combined 3-for-25 with runners in scoring position (San Jose 2-for-15, Visalia 1-for-10). Abdiel Layer (3-for-4, RBI), Carter Williams (2-for-4, 2B) and Grant McCray (2-for-4) had multi-hit games for the Giants.

Standings Update

While Thursday's win extended San Jose's lead over Modesto in the playoff race, it also brought the Giants to within three games of Fresno (68-37) for the best record in the league. The top two teams in Low-A West advance to play in a best-of-five Championship Series beginning on September 21. San Jose reduced their magic number to eight (combination of Giants wins and Modesto losses) to clinch a playoff berth.

On Deck

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

Check out the San Jose Giants Statistics

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California League Stories from September 3, 2021


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