CalL San Jose Giants

Storm Sink Giants with Ninth-Inning Rally

Published on June 11, 2022 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


The Lake Elsinore Storm scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to hand the Giants a heartbreaking 7-6 loss on Saturday night at The Diamond. After Lake Elsinore tied the game on a critical San Jose error in the ninth, Kervin Pichardo delivered an RBI single to propel the Storm to the walk-off win. With the loss, the Giants (32-24) have now dropped three of the first five games in the series.

Lake Elsinore didn't lead in the contest until their dramatic ninth-inning rally. The Storm battled back from a three-run deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh before Vaun Brown's two-out, two-RBI triple in the top of the eighth put San Jose back ahead. The Giants though were unable to close out Lake Elsinore in the ninth and suffered their second walk-off defeat of the season.

San Jose jumped out early on Saturday with a three-run top of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. Brown started the game with a single before Grant McCray drew a walk. Aeverson Arteaga then grounded an RBI double down the left field line as Brown scored the first run of the night. Riley Mahan was up next and he hit a grounder that was misplayed by Storm first baseman Cole Cummings for an error. Mahan was credited with one RBI on the play while Arteaga was able to score thanks to the error to make it 3-0.

Keaton Winn started on the mound for the Giants and allowed only one run over his first four innings. Lake Elsinore scratched across a run in the bottom of the third on Nerwilian Cedeno's RBI single, but Winn bounced back with a 1-2-3 fourth inning.

San Jose then reclaimed their three-run cushion with a single tally in the top of the fifth. Consecutive one-out walks to McCray and Arteaga put runners on first and second. An error on Mahan's potential inning-ending grounder then loaded the bases before Victor Bericoto's RBI groundout stretched the lead to 4-1.

Winn returned to the mound in the bottom of the fifth, but would run into trouble. With one out, Charlis Aquino smacked a solo home run to left to bring Lake Elsinore to within 4-2. Max Ferguson followed with a single, stole second and then came home on Cummings' two-out double down the right field line to make it 4-3. A walk to Albert Fabian then put the potential go-ahead run on base, but Winn came back to strikeout Justin Farmer to retire the side.

Esmerlin Vinicio struck out two in a scoreless bottom of the sixth out of the bullpen to maintain the one-run lead, but the Storm would rally in the seventh to tie the game. Julio Rodriguez was summoned out of the bullpen and he promptly walked Ferguson to start the inning. Cedeno then advanced the runner with a groundout before a wild pitch moved Ferguson to third and then a passed ball scored the run bringing Lake Elsinore even at 4-4. Rodriguez would later walk three more hitters in the inning as the Storm loaded the bases with two outs, but Hunter Dula came in and struck out Jared Alvarez-Lopez to keep the game tied.

The Giants would then immediately answer with a two-run top of the eighth to go right back ahead. With one out, Dilan Rosario walked and Max Wright was hit by a pitch. A balk moved the runners to second and third before Najee Gaskins struck out for the second out of the inning. Brown though followed with a deep drive off the fence in right center. The hit went for a triple as both Rosario and Wright scored giving San Jose a 6-4 lead.

Dula made quick work of Lake Elsinore in the bottom of the eighth striking out two in a 1-2-3 inning before Tyler Myrick entered to start the home half of the ninth. With the lead still at two runs, Cedeno led off with a nine-pitch at-bat and reached safely on an infield hit when his sharp grounder bounced off the glove of Myrick. A walk to Cummings followed putting the potential tying run on base. Myrick came back to strikeout Fabian, but then Farmer grounded a single up the middle to plate Cedeno cutting the Giants lead to 6-5. Cummings advanced to third on the RBI hit while Farmer took second on the throw. San Jose then elected to intentionally walk Carlos Luis to load the bases. Alvarez-Lopez was up next and on an 0-2 pitch, he hit a slow grounder to third that Mahan fielded, but his hurried throw home, in an attempt to force out the runner, hit the sliding Cummings. The play was ruled an error as the tying run scored and the bases remained loaded. Pichardo followed by lining an 0-2 pitch from Myrick into shallow center for an RBI single as Farmer scored to give the Storm the walk-off win.

GIANTS NOTES

Inside The Box Score: Lake Elsinore out-hit San Jose 9-5. The Giants were 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base. Keaton Winn pitched a season-high tying five innings in his start with three runs (all earned) allowed. Winn struck out five and walked three. Tyler Myrick suffered his second blown save in six opportunities this season. It was his first blown save since the opening weekend of the year.

At The Plate: Vaun Brown (2-for-5, 3B, 2 RBI) was the only Giants player with a multi-hit game. Brown's triple was his fifth of the season.

Walk This Way: Giants pitching issued a season-high 10 walks on Saturday, including seven by the bullpen over the final 3 1/3 innings.

First Half Race: The loss dropped San Jose (32-24) five games behind first-place Fresno (37-19) in the North Division standings. 10 games remain in the first half, including six head-to-head matchups between the Giants and Grizzlies next week at Excite Ballpark.

On Deck: The Giants and Storm conclude their six-game series on Sunday afternoon with first pitch set for 4:05 PM at The Diamond. Will Bednar is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

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