CalL1 San Jose Giants

Late Rally Falls Short in 4-2 Loss to Blaze

Published on August 16, 2012 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE - The Bakersfield Blaze avoided a series sweep with a 4-2 victory over the San Jose Giants on Thursday afternoon at Municipal Stadium. San Jose scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning and had the potential winning run at the plate with two outs before seeing their late rally fall short. The loss dropped the Giants' overall record to 64-58.

Adam Duvall (2-for-4, SB) and Dan Burkhart (2-for-4) had two singles each to lead the San Jose offensive attack, however the Giants were hitless in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base.

Bakersfield starting pitcher Josh Smith (8-7) picked-up the win after tossing six scoreless innings with just three hits allowed. Smith walked three and struck out five during his stint on the mound.

The Blaze jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the top of the first against San Jose starter Jack Snodgrass. Back-to- back singles from Kurtis Muller and Ryan Wright started the game. Then with Juan Duran at the plate, Bakersfield executed a double-steal and when the catcher Burkhart's throw bounced down the left field line for an error, Muller came home with the first run of the afternoon. Two batters later, Wright scored on Travis Mattair's groundout to shortstop.

Snodgrass settled down after the first inning and did not allow a run over the next four frames. The left-hander used double plays to pitch around leadoff singles in the second and fourth innings while he set down the Blaze 1-2-3 in the third and fifth.

Meanwhile, Smith was keeping the Giants off the scoreboard to maintain the 2-0 lead. San Jose's first hit was Chris Lofton's infield single to begin the bottom of the third, but he was promptly thrown out at second attempting to steal. In the fourth, Duvall led off with a single and stole second with two outs, but was stranded in scoring position. Then in the fifth, Lofton drew a two-out walk before stealing second, however Carter Jurica flied out to end the threat.

Bakersfield then added two runs in the top of the sixth inning to extend their lead to 4-0. After Muller's leadoff single and Juan Duran's one-out single, Mattair grounded a single into left to score a run. Steve Selsky followed with an RBI single of his own to make it 4-0.

In the bottom of the sixth, Duvall singled with one out before Ricky Oropesa drew a walk. An Alex Burg groundout moved the runners to second and third, but Smith struck out Jarrett Parker to finish the inning.

Chris Joyce relieved Smith to start the bottom of the seventh and surrendered a leadoff single to Burkhart, but the next three batters were retired. Then in the eighth, Oropesa was hit by a pitch with two outs before Burg walked, but Parker struck out as the Blaze continued to lead by a 4-0 margin.

The Giants finally broke through with a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth. Burkhart led off with a single before a bunt single from Jarrad Page put runners on first and second. After Lofton grounded into a fielder's choice with Page forced out at second, Carlos Contreras was summoned from the bullpen to replace Joyce. Jurica was up next and he delivered a sacrifice fly to center plating Burkhart to break-up the shutout. Skyler Stromsmoe followed by drawing a four- pitch walk bringing the potential tying run to the plate. Duvall was up next and his grounder to third was misplayed by Mattair for an error allowing Lofton to score bringing San Jose to within 4-2. After the error, the Giants had runners at first and second with the potential winning run at the plate, however, Contreras induced Oropesa to groundout to second ending the game.

Contreras, who joined Bakersfield earlier in the week, was credited with his first California League save.

Snodgrass (10-6) suffered the loss after allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out one and did not walk a batter.

Notes: San Jose won two out of three games in the series and finished their homestand with a 3-3 record ... Bakersfield out-hit the Giants by a 10-6 margin ... All 16 hits in the game were singles ... San Jose had runners on base in all nine innings ... The Giants matched a season-high with three stolen bases ... Shawn Sanford (1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO) and Stephen Harrold (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for San Jose ... Thursday was the final meeting of the regular season between the Giants and Blaze ... San Jose won the season-series 13-10 ... Smith entered the game ranked fourth in the California League in strikeouts and seventh in ERA ... The Giants second half record dropped to 26-26 with 18 games remaining in the regular season.

On Deck: The Giants travel to Stockton on Friday to begin a three-game series against the Ports. First pitch at Banner Island Ballpark is scheduled for 7:05 PM. Kelvin Marte (1-0, 6.43 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Stockton is expected to counter with Jake Brown (5-8, 4.50 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM.

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California League Stories from August 16, 2012


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