CalL1 San Jose Giants

Jones' Slam Powers Giants to 8-3 Victory

Published on June 28, 2014 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE - Chuckie Jones hit a grand slam in the bottom of the fourth inning to help the San Jose Giants to an 8-3 victory over the Visalia Rawhide on Friday evening at Municipal Stadium. Brandon Belt also homered for the Giants as San Jose evened their series with the Rawhide at a game apiece.

Jones' (1-for-5, HR, 4 RBI) grand slam, his seventh home run of the season, gave the Giants a commanding 8-1 lead. Belt finished 2-for-3 with a first-inning solo home run and a single in the second game of his rehabilitation assignment while Blake Miller (3-for-4, RBI) added three hits in the victory.

Chris Stratton (5-7) earned the win after recording a season-high 10 strikeouts over five innings of work. Stratton allowed three runs (all earned) on six hits with a pair of walks during his stint on the mound.

Visalia took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Socrates Brito began the game with a bloop double down the left field line, advanced to third on Raul Navarro's groundout and then scored when Alex Glenn grounded out. San Jose though immediately tied the game in the bottom of the first when Belt launched a towering fly ball that sailed over the fence in right for a solo home run.

The Giants took the lead with a three-run bottom of the third against Rawhide starter Braden Shipley. Trevor Brown started the frame with a single before moving to second on Alberto Robles' sacrifice bunt. Jesus Galindo then ripped an RBI single into center plating Brown with the go-ahead run. After Jones popped out and Belt was hit by a pitch, Mitch Delfino and Miller delivered back-to-back two-out RBI singles for a 4-1 advantage.

San Jose then blew the game open in the fourth inning on Jones' grand slam. A leadoff walk to Elliott Blair and a one-out walk to Robles put runners on first and second. Galindo was then hit by a pitch to load the bases before Jones stepped to the plate and crushed a 2-2 pitch from Shipley over the wall in left for a grand slam.

Meanwhile, Stratton kept Visalia off the scoreboard during the second, third and fourth innings. Stratton pitched out of a bases loaded, one out jam in the top of the second registering consecutive strikeouts of Kevin Medrano and Brito to end the inning. Stratton then struck out the side in the third before fanning another hitter in a scoreless top of the fourth.

The Rawhide cut into the Giants lead with a pair of runs in the fifth against Stratton. Brito led off with a double and scored two batters later on Glenn's one-out double. Then with Glenn at third base and two outs, Stratton uncorked a wild pitch to score another run trimming the lead to 8-3. Stratton finished his night with a strikeout of Steve McQuail to leave a runner at second base.

Mason McVay (3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 SO) relieved Stratton to begin the top of the sixth and fired three scoreless innings out of the bullpen. McVay stranded the bases loaded in the sixth before working around a leadoff double in the top of the seventh. McVay then struck out two in a perfect eighth - the only 1-2-3 inning thrown by a San Jose pitcher in the contest.

Tyler Mizenko (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) tossed a scoreless top of the ninth to seal the victory. Brandon Drury singled with one out against Mizenko, but Rudy Flores followed by grounding into a 4-6-3 double play to finish the game.

Shipley (1-2), a 2013 first round draft pick, was saddled with the loss after yielding eight runs (all earned) on seven hits over 3 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out none. Rawhide relievers Justin Van Grouw (2 2/3 IP) and Cody Wheeler (2 IP) then combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts out of the bullpen.

Brown (2-for-4, 3B) also finished with a multi-hit game for the Giants. Both teams ended the night with 10 hits.

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California League Stories from June 28, 2014


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