CalL1 San Jose Giants

Sweep Bid Falls Short, Win Streak Snapped at Four

Published on July 27, 2016 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE, CA - Bakersfield's Zack Littell threw eight scoreless innings before the Blaze held off San Jose in the ninth for a 2-1 victory over the Giants on Wednesday afternoon at Municipal Stadium. The defeat snapped San Jose's (54-49) win streak at four games. Despite the loss, the Giants still won two out of three in the series from first-place Bakersfield and finished their seven-game homestand with a 5-2 record.

Dylan Davis (4-for-4, 2B, RBI) had four hits as part of a perfect day at the plate to lead San Jose offensively. Davis drove home the Giants' only run of the contest with a ninth-inning RBI single.

Phil Bickford (2-2) suffered the loss on the mound despite matching a career-high with seven innings pitched. Bickford surrendered only two runs (both earned) and three hits. The right-hander walked four and struck out four during his 100-pitch outing.

The game was a pitchers' duel between Bickford and Littell as neither team scored over the first five innings. Bickford set down the Blaze 1-2-3 in the first and fourth innings. He used a double play to work around a one-out walk in the top of the second. In the third, Joe DeCarlo drew a leadoff walk before Austin Wilson singled - Bakersfield's only hit over the first five innings. Bickford though escaped as he struck out Justin Seager, retired Jordan Cowan on a groundout and then struck out Drew Jackson to end the inning. The Blaze then threatened in the fifth as Bickford issued back-to-back one-out walks to DeCarlo and Wilson, but both runners were stranded as Cowan and Jackson followed with consecutive fly outs.

Meanwhile, San Jose managed only three baserunners over the first five innings against Littell. Davis singled with two outs in the bottom of the first, but Littell retired Jonah Arenado on a fly out to end the inning. In the second, Miguel Gomez led off with a single, but the next three Giants hitters were set down. Davis then singled to begin the bottom of the fourth, but advanced no further than first base.

Bakersfield then finally broke though against Bickford in the top of the sixth. Jackson led off with a bunt single and advanced to second on the play when the third baseman Gomez threw the ball away for an error. Bickford retired Chantz Mack on a fly out, but Tyler Marlette then stepped to the plate and crushed a 2-0 pitch over the fence in deep right center. The home run, Marlette's team-leading 13th of the season, gave the Blaze a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, Davis doubled off the fence in straightaway center with two outs, but was thrown out at third on the play attempting to stretch the hit into a triple. Both teams were then retired 1-2-3 in the seventh inning.

Pat Young (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) relieved Bickford to begin the top of the eighth and tossed two perfect innings out of the bullpen.

Littell finished his day with a scoreless bottom of the eighth pitching around a two-out single from Richard Rodriguez to maintain the 2-0 Bakersfield cushion.

In the bottom of the ninth, Jake Zokan entered from the Blaze bullpen and the Giants rallied. T.J. Bennett led off with a double to deep left before taking third on a wild pitch. Davis then blooped a single into shallow left plating Bennett to cut the Bakersfield lead to 2-1. However with the potential tying run on base, Arenado grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. Zokan then struck out Gomez to end the game.

Littell (4-0) surrendered just five hits during his eight-inning masterpiece to pick-up the win. The right-hander struck out six, walked none and threw 99 pitches (74 strikes). Zokan, who entered the game with a 0.29 season ERA in 31 innings, was credited with his sixth save.

Notes - * The Giants have still not swept a series since taking three straight games in Stockton from May 17-19. * Littell is 4-0 with a 0.84 ERA in five starts with Bakersfield this season. * San Jose out-hit the Blaze 7-3. * The Giants had only one at-bat the entire game with a runner in scoring position (Davis' ninth-inning RBI single). * Davis finished the three-game series 7-for-10 (.700 AVG) with two home runs and five RBI's. * San Jose (15-18) fell six games behind Bakersfield (21-12) in the second half North Division race. The Giants still have 13 games remaining against the Blaze this season.

On Deck: The Giants next embark on a seven-game road trip to Modesto (four games) and Bakersfield (three games). Thursday's series opener versus the Nuts is a 7:05 PM first pitch at John Thurman Field. Jordan Johnson (6-8, 5.88 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Helmis Rodriguez (2-6, 4.14 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM.

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California League Stories from July 27, 2016


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