More Extra-Inning Heartbreak as Giants Fall in 13
August 8, 2015 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
LAKE ELSINORE, CA - A night after falling in 15 innings, the Giants lost a second straight game in extras to the Storm as Lake Elsinore outlasted San Jose, 2-1, on Friday evening at The Diamond. Marcus Davis delivered a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the 13th off of Giants infielder John Polonius, who was forced into pitching duties, for the walk-off hit. San Jose (55-56) has now lost three games in a row for the first time since late-June.
Brandon Bednar (1-for-3, HR, RBI) hit a game-tying solo home run in the top of the ninth to account for the only Giants run in the contest. Aramis Garcia (2-for-5), who joined San Jose before the game from Augusta (A), added a pair of singles in his California League debut. The Giants managed only five total hits in the 13-inning game.
Chase Johnson and Lake Elsinore's Kyle Lloyd locked up in a pitcher's duel as the game was scoreless until the bottom of the seventh. Johnson fired 5 2/3 shutout innings with four hits allowed, two walks and three strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.57 - second in the California League. Lloyd carried a shutout into the top of the ninth before Bednar took him deep to tie the game.
Johnson allowed only one single over the first three frames before pitching out of a jam in the bottom of the fourth. Davis and Gabriel Quintana produced back-to-back two-out singles in the fourth, but Johnson recovered setting down the next hitter, Chase Jensen, on a groundout to retire the side. Johnson then struck out two in a perfect bottom of the fifth before taking care of the first two batters in the sixth inning. A walk to Nick Torres followed with two outs before Davis lined a single off of Johnson forcing the Giants starter out of the game. Tyler Rogers entered from the bullpen with runners on first and second though and promptly struck out Quintana to keep the game scoreless.
The Storm then broke through with a run in the bottom of the seventh. A bloop single from Jensen started the frame before Valenzuela reached on a hit-and-run infield single to second putting runners on first and third. Rogers followed with a strikeout of Miguel Del Castillo, but Felipe Blanco then executed a safety-squeeze bunt bringing home Jensen with the first run of the night.
Meanwhile, the Giants managed only two baserunners over the first eight innings against Lloyd - a one-out single from Seth Harrison in the top of the third and a two-out single from Garcia in the seventh. Lloyd faced just one batter over the minimum in the first eight innings and then struck out Harrison to start the ninth. Bednar was up next and he crushed a 1-0 pitch from Lloyd over the fence down the left field line for a dramatic game-tying home run. The homer was Bednar's third of the season.
After the home run, Jeff Kobernus reached on an infield single to knock Lloyd out of the game, but with reliever Bryan Verbitsky on the mound, Kobernus was thrown out at second attempting to steal before Christian Arroyo grounded out to end the inning.
Dan Slania (3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO) fired three perfect innings out of the bullpen for San Jose over the ninth, 10th and 11th frames. Slania struck out four of the nine batters he faced.
The Giants were retired in order in the top of the 10th and 11th. In the 12th, Bednar drew a walk - the Giants' first leadoff baserunner of the game - but was quickly erased when Kobernus followed by grounding into a double play.
In the bottom of the 12th, Polonius, a San Jose infielder, was summoned into pitch due to a lack of available relievers in the Giants bullpen. It marked the first time this season a San Jose position player had seen time on the mound. The infielder then made quick work of the Storm in the inning setting down Jensen and Valenzuela on back-to-back pop outs before Del Castillo flied out to deep left.
In the top of the 13th, Garcia led off with a single, but the Giants were unable to advance him any further as Angel Villalona struck out, Daniel Carbonell flied out on a diving catch made by Auston Bousfield in center and Brian Ragira grounded out.
Polonius returned to the mound in the bottom of the 13th and immediately ran into trouble as Blanco singled sharply up the middle to start the inning before a sacrifice bunt from Bousfield advanced the potential winning run to second. Nick Schulz then lined a single into left moving Blanco to third. Polonius followed by retiring Torres on a shallow fly ball to right for the second out, but Davis then stepped to the plate and lined a 1-1 pitch off the wall in deep right field for the game-winning RBI single.
Polonius (0-1) took the loss after he was charged with one run on three hits over 1 2/3 innings. He did not issue a walk or record a strikeout.
Genison Reyes (3-3), who entered from the Storm bullpen to begin the top of the 11th, worked three scoreless innings to notch the win. Reyes allowed one hit, walked one and struck out two.
Notes:
* The teams have combined to play 28 innings over the last two nights. San Jose has scored only two runs in their last 25 innings.
* The Giants fell to 0-6 against the Storm this season. Three losses have come in extra-innings and five have been by one run.
* Polonius was making the first pitching appearance of his professional career (fourth season).
* Lake Elsinore out-hit San Jose 9-5.
* The Giants had only one at-bat in the entire game with a runner in scoring position (0-for-1).
* San Jose has played in 19 extra-inning games this season (9-10 record) - second-most in all of Minor League Baseball (Fort Myers 21). The Giants have lost their last four extra-inning games - all in the last 10 days.
* Johnson has a 1.08 ERA (5 ER/41.2 IP) over his last seven starts.
* Garcia is leading Augusta in home runs (15) and RBI's (61) this season. To make room on the roster, catcher Bryan Case was placed on the 7-day disabled list.
* San Jose (25-16) remained one game behind Modesto (26-15) and Visalia (26-15) in the second half North Division race. The Giants (55-56) are also still tied with Stockton (55-56) in the Wild Card.
On Deck: The Giants and Storm continue their four-game series on Saturday evening with first pitch at The Diamond scheduled for 6:00 PM. Jose Reyes (2-4, 7.74 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lake Elsinore is expected to counter with Michael Kelly (0-0, --- ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 5:30 PM.
California League Stories from August 8, 2015
- Bats and Bullpen Help 66ers Bounce Back - Inland Empire 66ers
- Quakes Take Early Lead, Beat Ports 9-6 - Stockton Ports
- More Extra-Inning Heartbreak as Giants Fall in 13 - San Jose Giants
- Petty Finishes Nuts - Bakersfield Blaze
- Ninth-Inning Power Stings Nuts in 5-2 Loss - Modesto Nuts
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