CalL1 San Jose Giants

JetHawks Cruise Past Giants to Take Series

Published on August 14, 2016 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


LANCASTER, CA - The Lancaster JetHawks scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and never looked back on their way to a convincing 9-4 victory over the San Jose Giants on Sunday evening at The Hangar. With the loss, the Giants (61-59) dropped two out of three games in the series against the second half South Division leaders.

Jonah Arenado (1-for-4, HR, RBI) extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a solo home run in the defeat. T.J. Bennett (1-for-4, HR, RBI) also went deep for San Jose while Ty Ross (3-for-3, 2B, RBI) had three hits as part of a perfect night at the plate.

The JetHawks jumped out early scoring three times in the opening frame against Giants spot-starter Austin Fleet. Myles Straw began the inning with a bloop double down the right field line before moving to third on Aaron Mizell's fly out. Drew Ferguson followed with a sacrifice fly to center as Straw came home with the first run of the night. The rally then restarted with a two-out walk to Bryan Muniz before Osvaldo Duarte singled. Jason Martin then stepped to the plate and ripped a triple down the right field line scoring both runners for a 3-0 Lancaster lead.

The Giants immediately answered in the top of the second when Arenado led off with a towering solo homer to left center. The home run was Arenado's 14th of the season. Then with two down, Bennett launched a solo home run to right center - his fifth round-tripper of the year - bringing San Jose to within 3-2.

The JetHawks though responded with single runs in the bottom of the second and third innings. In the second, a leadoff walk to Brooks Marlow and a one-out walk to Straw put runners on first and second. Following a strikeout, Ferguson delivered an RBI single to make it 4-2.

In the bottom of the third, Fleet was lifted from the game after surrendering a two-out double to Jamie Ritchie. Dusten Knight entered from the bullpen and promptly allowed an RBI double to Marlow on his first pitch as Lancaster extended their lead to 5-2.

JetHawks starting pitcher Elieser Hernandez settled down after the second to toss 1-2-3 third and fourth innings before the Giants pushed across a run in the fifth. With one out, Ross singled and immediately scored when the next batter, Robbie Garvey, blasted a double to deep right center. The RBI hit trimmed the Lancaster lead to 5-3. However with the potential tying run at the plate, Hernandez struck out Ronnie Jebavy and retired Rando Moreno on a groundout to end the inning. Hernandez then struck out two in a perfect top of the sixth to maintain the two-run JetHawks cushion.

Knight (2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO) retired six out of seven batters over scoreless bottom of the fourth and fifth innings before running into trouble in the sixth. With the score still 5-3, Knight struck out the first batter of the bottom of the sixth. However, Marc Wik followed by crushing a solo home run to left center - his second homer of the series. Knight then allowed a single to Straw to end his outing. Pat Young (2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO) was summoned into pitch, but he surrendered three straight RBI hits as Lancaster broke the game open. Mizell produced an RBI double to make it 7-3. Consecutive RBI singles from Ferguson and Muniz then pushed the lead to 9-3.

The Giants received a pair of singles from Garvey and Jebavy in the top of the seventh, but were unable to score in the frame. San Jose was then set down 1-2-3 in the eighth. In the top of the ninth, Mitch Delfino was hit by a pitch before Ross connected for a two-out RBI double down the left field line to cut the JetHawks advantage to 9-4. A groundout of Garvey though followed to end the game.

Hernandez (2-4) earned the win after pitching the first six innings for Lancaster. The right-hander allowed three runs (all earned) on five hits. He walked none and struck out nine.

Fleet (0-1) was saddled with the loss after yielding five runs (all earned) in 2 2/3 innings. He surrendered five hits, walked three and struck out two.

Notes - * The Giants finished 1-6 at The Hangar this season. San Jose allowed 60 runs in the six losses. * The Giants have not won a series in Lancaster since August of 2011. San Jose is 7-19 at The Hangar since the start of the 2012 season. * Arenado's current hit streak matches the longest by a Giants player this season (Jebavy, Arenado x2). * Lancaster out-hit San Jose 12-8. * Bennett has hit four out of his five home runs in August (.341 AVG this month). * Fleet was making his first start with the Giants this season after six relief appearances. He made eight starts with San Jose in 2013. * The temperature at game time was 103 degrees with a 28 MPH wind out to center field.

On Deck: The Giants continue their road trip with a four-game series against the Bakersfield Blaze at Sam Lynn Ballpark. Monday's series opener is scheduled to begin at 7:15 PM. Jordan Johnson (8-8, 5.42 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Bakersfield is expected to counter with Tyler Pike (6-5, 3.81 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:45 PM.

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