CalL San Jose Giants

Ports Hold off Giants, 4-3

Published on July 3, 2021 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


The San Jose Giants saw their ninth-inning rally come up short on Friday night in a 4-3 loss to the Stockton Ports at Banner Island Ballpark. The Giants scored once in the final frame and had the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base, but could not complete the comeback as Stockton evened the series at two games apiece. Jairo Pomares and Jimmy Glowenke both blasted solo homers for San Jose (35-17) in defeat.

The Giants trailed throughout Friday's contest as the Ports used a pair of two-out RBI doubles to take a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. San Jose starter Carson Ragsdale surrendered a leadoff double to Brayan Buelvas in the first before retiring the next two hitters. However on an 0-2 pitch, clean-up hitter T.J. Schofield-Sam laced a double down the right field line to bring home Buelvas with the first run of the game. Danny Bautista then doubled to deep left center plating Schofield-Sam to make it 2-0.

The score would remain at 2-0 all the way until the sixth inning. Ragsdale settled down after the consecutive run-scoring hits to retire 13 of the next 14 Stockton batters. He fanned two hitters each in scoreless second and third inning before striking out the side in a perfect bottom of the fourth. Ragsdale then needed only six pitches to work a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth.

Unfortunately, the Giants were kept off the scoreboard by Ports starter Jake Walkinshaw over the first five innings. San Jose put a runner in scoring position in the first, second and fifth innings, but came away empty-handed in each frame. Finally in the top of the sixth, Pomares led off by crushing the first pitch of the inning well over the fence in deep right center for a solo home run. The 442-foot blast, Pomares' fourth home run of the season, brought the Giants to within 2-1.

Stockton though got the run right back in the bottom of the sixth against Ragsdale when Lawrence Butler led off with a solo homer - his ninth round-tripper of the year - to make it 3-1.

The teams continued to trade home runs in the seventh when Glowenke led off with a big fly to straightaway center. The home run was the first of the season for Glowenke and it cut the Ports lead to 3-2.

Stockton reliever Garrett Acton, who had entered the game to begin the top of the seventh, would settle down after giving up Glowenke's blast. Acton struck out the next three batters to end the top of the seventh and then breezed through a 1-2-3 eighth inning to keep the Ports ahead by a run.

Stockton then scored a key insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to push their lead to 4-2. With reliever Justin Crump on the mound, Butler led off with a single. Crump then threw wildly to first on a pick-off attempt allowing Butler to advance to second. Kevin Richards followed with a groundout to second moving Butler to third before Schofield-Sam's sacrifice fly put San Jose down by two runs again.

Oscar Tovar relieved Acton to begin the top of the ninth and was poised for a quick inning as he set down the first two batters to bring the Ports to the brink of victory. However with the Giants down to their final strike, Glowenke grounded a single up the middle. Rodolfo Bone was up next and with San Jose again one strike from defeat, he reached on an infield single to put runners on first and second. Abdiel Layer followed with a line drive single into right center - the third straight two-out hit - to score Glowenke and bring the Giants to within 4-3. Bone, the potential tying run, advanced to second on the RBI single, but was ultimately stranded there when the next batter, Luis Toribio, grounded out to second to end the game.

GIANTS NOTES

Series Update

The two teams have alternated wins during the series with the Giants claiming games one and three and Stockton taking games two and four. San Jose is now 11-5 at Banner Island Ballpark this season. The Giants have hit 39 home runs over the 16 games in Stockton.

Pomares Extends Hit Streak

Jairo Pomares (2-for-4, HR, RBI) singled and homered to extend his hitting streak to nine games. He's batting .321 overall in 14 games with San Jose this season.

Glowenke On The Board

Jimmy Glowenke's (2-for-4, HR, RBI) seventh-inning homer was the first of his professional career. The 2020 second round pick was mired in a 1-for-22 slump prior to the blast.

Inside The Box Score

The Giants out-hit the Ports 9-7, but went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Abdiel Layer (2-for-5, RBI) and Rodolfo Bone (2-for-4, 2B) also finished with multi-hit games for San Jose. Jake Walkinshaw earned the win after tossing six strong innings with one run allowed, one walk and seven strikeouts.

Ragsdale's Start

Carson Ragsdale (2-3) was charged with three runs (all earned) in his six innings of work to take the loss. Ragsdale allowed six hits, walked one and struck out eight. He leads Low-A West with 84 strikeouts this season (47 innings pitched).

On Deck

The Giants and Ports continue their series on Saturday evening with first pitch at Banner Island Ballpark set for 6:30 PM. Ryan Murphy is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.




California League Stories from July 3, 2021


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