CalL San Jose Giants

Ports Race Past Giants in Series Opener, 11-5

Published on August 15, 2023 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


The San Jose Giants returned to the road on Tuesday night and suffered an 11-5 loss to the host Stockton Ports at Banner Island Ballpark. In the opener of a six-game series, the Giants (60-49 overall, 20-23 second half) jumped out to a 5-1 lead after 3 1/2 innings before Stockton scored 10 unanswered runs, highlighted by a six-run bottom of the sixth, en route to the convincing win.

Turner Hill (2-for-4, 2 2B, RBI) and Cole Foster (2-for-5, 2 RBI) had two hits apiece while Jack Payton (1-for-4, HR, RBI) homered in his first game with San Jose to lead the way offensively in defeat. P.J. Hilson (1-for-4) also extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

The Giants enjoyed an early 4-0 lead on Tuesday scoring once in the top of the second before a three-run third inning. Payton, who joined the club from the Arizona Complex League (Rookie-level) last Sunday, opened the scoring when he connected for a solo home run in his first at-bat with the Giants. It was also the first home run of his professional career. Payton was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 11th round of last month's draft after a standout collegiate career at Louisville.

The Giants then kept the pressure on with three more runs an inning later in the top of the third. Hilson led off the frame with a single before Hill doubled to put runners on second and third. Foster followed with a single to center plating both runners for a 3-0 advantage. Foster later advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a passed ball and scored when Scott Bandura hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0.

Mikell Manzano made his second start with the Giants since his promotion from the Complex League last week and began his outing with two scoreless innings. The Ports though would breakthrough in the bottom of the third as consecutive singles from Bjay Cooke and Dereck Salom started the inning, both runners moved up on a wild pitch and then Henry Bolte's groundout scored a run to cut the San Jose lead to 4-1.

The Giants got the run right back in the top of the fourth as Andrew Kachel led off with a single, stole second and scored on Hill's two-out double for a 5-1 advantage. The fourth-inning tally, however, would be San Jose's final run of the night and Stockton would control the rest of the game.

Manzano allowed a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth as Yeniel Laboy delivered an RBI double before an error with two outs scored another run to bring the Ports within 5-3. Julio Rodriguez relieved Manzano and recorded the final out of the inning and then kept Stockton off the board in the fifth to maintain the two-run cushion. Stockton though rallied for six runs in the home half of the sixth inning to move in front. With Rodriguez still on the mound, Salom walked with one out before Will Simpson doubled to put runners at second and third. A single from Bolte followed that scored by Salom and Simpson to tie the game 5-5. Following a two-out walk to Myles Naylor, the Giants made another change on the mound, but new pitcher Wilkelma Castillo surrendered a three-run home run to the first batter he faced, Jonah Cox, as the Ports took an 8-5 lead. Laboy was up next and he also homered as the Stockton advantage grew to 9-5.

The Ports then added two more runs against Castillo in the bottom of the seventh as Simpson connected for a two-out solo homer before Bolte walked, stole second and came home on Carlos Franco's single to bring the game to its final margin of 11-5.

Two Stockton relievers - Carlos Guarate and Franck De La Rosa - combined to pitch five scoreless innings to finish the game with only one hit allowed, two walks and seven strikeouts.

Rodriguez (3-5) was saddled with the loss after he was charged with four runs (all earned) on two hits over two innings of relief work. Rodriguez walked four and struck out five. The Giants bullpen gave up eight runs on Tuesday after fashioning a stellar 0.81 ERA (3 ER/33.1 IP) during last week's series against Fresno.

The Ports out-hit the Giants 13-8. San Jose stole two bases in the game to increase their season stolen base total to a league-leading 200. It's the first time since 2010 that a SJ Giants team has stolen at least 200 bases in a season.

The Giants continue their series in Stockton on Wednesday evening with first pitch at Banner Island Ballpark set for 7:05 PM. Mauricio Estrella is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

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California League Stories from August 15, 2023


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