Quakes Edge Giants, 3-2
Published on July 29, 2022 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
The Giants' bid for a fourth consecutive win fell short on Thursday night with a 3-2 loss to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at Excite Ballpark. San Jose out-hit Rancho Cucamonga by a 10-3 margin, but left 11 runners on base and committed a pair of costly errors that led to the narrow setback. The defeat for the Giants (54-39, 14-13 second half) was only their second in the last eight games overall.
Trevor McDonald started on the mound for San Jose on Thursday and fired five strong innings with only two hits and one unearned run allowed. McDonald surrendered a one-out single in the top of the first and then didn't give up another hit until the fifth. At one point in his outing, he retired 13 of 14 batters from the first through the fifth innings.
The Quakes though would take advantage of an unusual error in the top of the fifth to score the first run of the game. Kyle Froemke singled with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Javier Armas was then retired on a grounder back to McDonald for the second out. Then before throwing a pitch to the next hitter, McDonald casually tossed the ball into the Giants dugout area as he looked to get a new ball from the umpire. Timeout, however, was not yet granted by the umpiring crew and with the ball thrown out of play, Froemke was, by rule, awarded two bases and thus allowed to score. McDonald was charged with an error as Rancho Cucamonga took a 1-0 lead.
The Giants though would immediately answer with a run in the bottom of the inning. Alexander Suarez led off with a double to deep center. After Garrett Frechette's groundout advanced Suarez to third, Hayden Cantrelle stepped to the plate and lined an RBI single into right to tie the game 1-1.
Hunter Dula relieved McDonald to start the top of the sixth and struck out two in a scoreless inning as he pitched around a one-out walk. Another San Jose error in the seventh though would lead to a run as the Quakes reclaimed the lead. Dula quickly set down the first two batters of the inning, but then issued back-to-back four-pitch walks to Armas and Gauthier. Spencer Bivens was then summoned from the bullpen and he appeared to get out of the inning when Yeiner Fernandez hit a soft pop-up to first base, but the ball was dropped by Frechette for an error. The miscue allowed Armas to score all the way from second putting Rancho Cucamonga back ahead at 2-1.
The Giants, however, once again answered with the tying run in the bottom of the inning. Frechette led off with a bunt single before consecutive one-out walks to Grant McCray and Aeverson Arteaga loaded the bases. Jared Dupere then brought home Frechette with a groundout to first to tie the score at 2-2. A walk to Adrian Sugastey followed to again load the bases, but Carter Williams popped out to third on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning and keep the game tied.
A run in the top of the eighth for the Quakes would then be the decisive tally in the contest. Bivens returned to the mound and promptly walked Yunior Garcia to leadoff. A wild pitch moved Garcia to second before Bivens retired the next two hitters on a strikeout and a fly out. Hector Martinez though followed with a sharp single into left plating Garcia from second to give Rancho Cucamonga a 3-2 lead.
San Jose threatened in the bottom of the eighth as Yorlis Rodriguez and Suarez produced back-to-back singles to start the inning putting runners on first and second with none out. Three straight strikeouts of Frechette, Cantrelle and McCray though followed as the Quakes maintained their one-run advantage. Then in the bottom of the ninth, Dupere walked with one out to put the tying run on base, however Sugastey grounded into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.
GIANTS NOTES
Series Update: Despite Thursday's loss, the Giants have still won two of the first three games in the series against Rancho Cucamonga this week.
Missed Opportunities: The Giants finished the game 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position (0-for-7 in the last four innings). The lone hit was Cantrelle's RBI single in the bottom of the fifth. Rancho Cucamonga was only 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position with Martinez's tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth marking the lone hit.
On The Mound: Giants pitching - Trevor McDonald (5 IP, 7 SO), Hunter Dula (1 2/3 IP, 3 SO), Spencer Bivens (1 1/3 IP, 3 SO) and Jose Cruz (1 IP, 2 SO) combined for 15 strikeouts. Only one of the three runs allowed by San Jose on Thursday was earned.
Williams Extends Hitting Streak: Carter Williams was 2-for-3 with a double to extend his hitting streak to 17 games.
At The Plate: Grant McCray (2-for-4, SB), Alexander Suarez (2-for-4, 2B) and Hayden Cantrelle (2-for-4, 3B, RBI) also had multi-hit games for the Giants.
Roster Moves: Pitcher Scott Alexander was added to the Giants roster from the Arizona Complex League (Rookie) before the game on Thursday. Alexander has spent seven years in the major leagues (2015-21) with the Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Dodgers. He signed a minor league deal with the San Francisco Giants in May. In a corresponding roster move, pitcher Ofelky Peralta was promoted to High-A Eugene.
On Deck: The Giants and Quakes play the fourth game of their series on Friday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 6:30 PM. Manuel Mercedes is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.
California League Stories from July 29, 2022
- Fresno Grizzlies Game Notes at Modesto - Fresno Grizzlies
- Stockton Ports Host Modesto Nuts - Stockton Ports
- Quakes Edge Giants, 3-2 - San Jose Giants
- Quakes Hang on for Win in San Jose - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
- Storm Cling to Lead in Pitcher's Duel at the Diamond - Lake Elsinore Storm
- Rito and Sems Blast Bombs, but Grizzlies Lose to Nuts Again - Fresno Grizzlies
- Ports Edged by Storm in Pitchers' Duel - Stockton Ports
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
