CalL1 San Jose Giants

Home Runs Power Giants to 4-1 Victory

Published on July 18, 2015 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE, CA - Angel Villalona, Tyler Horan and Seth Harrison each homered to account for all four of San Jose's runs in a 4-1 Giants victory over the Lancaster JetHawks on Saturday evening at Municipal Stadium. On the mound, Jason Forjet tossed six scoreless innings before the bullpen held down the JetHawks late to carry San Jose to the series-opening triumph. The Giants (44-48) have now won three games in a row and 10 out of their last 11.

Villalona (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) and Horan (1-for-2, HR, RBI) hit back-to-back homers in the first inning to give San Jose an early 3-0 lead before Harrison (2-for-3, HR, RBI) went deep in the seventh to complete the Giants scoring for the night.

Forjet (3-2) earned the win after scattering seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts during his 92-pitch effort. Jake Smith pitched a 1-2-3 top of the ninth to collect his fifth save of the year.

The JetHawks threatened in the top of the first against Forjet as James Ramsay led off the game with a double. Mott Hyde then grounded out before Ramsay was thrown out at third attempting to steal. Derek Fisher followed with a double down the right field line, but was stranded in scoring position when Chase McDonald flied out.

In the bottom of the first, Daniel Carbonell singled with two outs and stole second before Villalona crushed a 2-2 pitch from Troy Scribner over the fence in left for a two-run homer. The home run, Villalona's fifth of the season, gave the Giants a 2-0 lead. Horan was up next and he smacked an opposite field home run to left center for a 3-0 advantage. Horan's homer was his team-leading 10th of the year.

Forjet's only perfect inning of the night was a 1-2-3 top of the third. The San Jose starter pitched around a two-out double in the second inning before escaping a bases loaded jam in the fourth. With the score still 3-0, McDonald singled with one out in the top of the fourth before Ronnie Mitchell singled with two outs. Jamie Ritchie then walked to load the bases, but Forjet settled down inducing Marc Wik to fly out to shallow left to end the threat.

In the fifth, Ramsay reached second on a pair of Villalona errors at first base, but Forjet registered consecutive swinging strikeouts of the next two hitters - Hyde and Fisher - to complete the inning. Forjet then finished his night with a scoreless top of the sixth. Mitchell and Ritchie produced back-to-back two-out singles in the sixth inning, but Wik followed with a fly out to center.

Christian Jones (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) relieved Forjet to start the top of the seventh and pitched around a two-out infield single in his only inning of work to maintain the three-run cushion.

The Giants extended their lead to 4-0 when Harrison led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run down the left field line - his third round-tripper of the season.

The JetHawks finally broke through in the top of the eighth as McDonald began the frame by blasting a solo home run to left center off of Dan Slania. The homer snapped a string of 16 consecutive scoreless innings thrown by San Jose pitchers. Slania (1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) though recovered to set down the next two hitters before Ritchie singled to right. Wik was up next, but he struck out swinging to end the inning.

Smith then entered to begin the top of the ninth and made quick work of Lancaster to seal the victory. Smith struck out Brian Holberton on three pitches to start the inning, retired Ramsey on a foul pop out to first and then struck out Hyde looking to finish the contest.

Scribner (2-4) suffered the loss for the JetHawks after yielding three runs (all earned) on six hits over five innings. The right-hander settled down after allowing the two homers keeping the Giants off the scoreboard over the next four frames.

Notes:

* The Giants have won three games in a row. San Jose has allowed a total of just three runs over their last three games.

* In his last two starts, Forjet has tossed 13 innings with one run surrendered, one walk and 12 strikeouts. He lowered his season ERA to 2.73 with Saturday's performance.

* Horan has homered in three consecutive games - the first San Jose player to accomplish the feat this season.

* The JetHawks out-hit the Giants 10-7. Lancaster was 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base.

* Saturday was San Jose's first game against a South Division team since June 21. The Giants improved to 3-2 against Lancaster this season.

* The Giants have allowed two runs or fewer in nine out of their last ten games.

* Third baseman Ryder Jones (finger) was placed on the 7-day disabled list before the game on Saturday. Infielder John Polonius was activated off the DL.

* San Jose improved to 14-8 in the second half.

On Deck: The Giants and JetHawks continue their four-game series on Sunday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 5:00 PM. Chase Johnson (5-3, 3.01 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lancaster is expected to counter with Kevin Comer (1-3, 5.28). It's a KBAY's Giant Sunday at the ballpark and tickets can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com.

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California League Stories from July 18, 2015


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