Sweep Bid Falls Short with 10âÃâ¬Ã"5 Loss
June 28, 2021 - California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release
The Giants bid for a six-game series sweep of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes fell short on Sunday night with a 10-5 loss at Excite Ballpark. San Jose overcame a 5-0 deficit as the Giants tied the score in the sixth inning before Rancho Cucamonga plated five unanswered runs to finish the game en route to the win. Despite the loss, the Giants (33-15) claimed five of six games during the series against the South Division-leaders and continue to boast the top overall record in Low-A West.
The Quakes smacked four home runs on Sunday as part of a 13-hit offensive attack. Eddys Leonard led off the game with a mammoth blast to deep left center to give Rancho Cucamonga the early 1-0 lead. San Jose starter Ryan Murphy would settle down to retire 11 of the next 12 Quakes hitters before running into trouble in the top of the fourth. With two outs and the bases empty in the fourth, Alex De Jesus singled before Jonny DeLuca's grounder to third was misplayed by Luis Toribio for an error. The miscue would prove costly for the Giants as Imanol Vargas was up next and he connected for a three-run home run to right center field pushing the Rancho Cucamonga lead to 4-0. An inning later, Ismael Alcantara hit the Quakes' third round-tripper of the contest - a solo shot to center - for a 5-0 advantage.
San Jose managed only one hit over the first four innings before breaking through in the bottom of the fifth. Marco Luciano led off the inning with a line drive home run to left. The homer was Luciano's team-leading 10th of the season.
The fifth-inning rally continued as Jairo Pomares followed the home run with a ringing double down the right field line. A one-out walk to Abdiel Layer then put runners on first and second before Brett Auerbach's two-out RBI single to left cut the deficit to 5-2.
The Giants then plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth to tie the score. Luis Matos led off with a single for San Jose. Casey Schmitt then hit a grounder to deep short that De Jesus fielded, but threw wildly to second, in an attempt to force out Matos, for an error. A walk to Luciano followed to load the bases before Pomares also walked forcing home a run. After Alex Canario struck out, Layer came up and lined a single into right plating Schmitt to bring the Giants to within 5-4. Jimmy Glowenke was then hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Luciano with the tying run. San Jose had an opportunity to take their first lead of the game as the bases remained loaded after the hit batter, but Auerbach popped out to short and Toribio flied out to right ending the inning.
The Giants again had the potential go-ahead run in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh, but would come away empty-handed. Matos struck out to start the inning, but reached first safely on a passed ball. Matos then stole second, but was later thrown out at third attempting to advance on Schmitt's fly out to straightaway center.
Rancho Cucamonga then went back in front with a four-run top of the eighth. With reliever Ty Weber on the mound, Jorbit Vivas begin the inning by driving a fly ball off the fence in deep center for a triple. Weber then walked Brandon Lewis before Clay Helvey entered from the bullpen and fanned Diego Cartaya for the first out. However, De Jesus followed with a soft line drive along the right field line for a double as both runs came home to give the Quakes a 7-5 lead. DeLuca followed by hammering a two-run homer to left - the fourth Rancho Cucamonga home run of the night - to make it 9-5.
The Quakes scored their 10th and final run of the evening when De Jesus delivered a bases loaded RBI single in the top of the ninth. The Giants did not manage a hit over the final three innings.
GIANTS NOTES
Inside The Box Score
The Quakes out-hit the Giants 13-6. Rancho Cucamonga was 4-for-7 with runners in scoring position compared to 2-for-9 for San Jose. The Quakes' 5-6-7 trio of Alex De Jesus, Jonny DeLuca and Imanol Vargas combined to go 7-for-15 with two homers and eight RBI's. Luis Matos (2-for-4, SB) was the only Giants player to finish the game with more than one hit.
Luciano's Blast
Marco Luciano is now tied for the Low-A West lead with his 10 home runs. His blast on Sunday had an exit velocity of 115 MPH.
Home Win Streak Snapped
Sunday's defeat snapped the Giants' season-high seven-game home winning streak. It was San Jose's first home loss since June 4 versus Modesto.
On The Mound
Ryan Murphy pitched four-plus innings to start the game for the Giants with five runs (two earned) allowed. He gave up five hits, walked none and struck out four. Juan Sanchez threw two perfect innings of relief over the fifth and sixth. Ty Weber (1 IP, 2 R) and Clay Helvey (1/3 IP, 2 R) combined to surrender all four runs in the top of the eighth. Weber (3-1) was saddled with the loss.
Series Review
The Giants scored 48 runs during the six-game series against the Quakes (8.0 runs per game). The series featured the top two home run hitting teams in Low-A West. Rancho Cucamonga hit 10 homers during the six-game set while San Jose slugged eight round-trippers. Jairo Pomares was the Giants' top hitter during the series with nine hits in 20 at-bats (.450 AVG), including four doubles, one home run and seven RBI's.
Standings Update
The Giants (33-15) are now three games ahead of the Fresno Grizzlies (30-18) for first place in the North Division standings.
On Deck
Following an off day, the Giants travel to Stockton for a six-game set against the Ports. Tuesday's series opener at Banner Island Ballpark is a 7:05 PM first pitch. Wil Jensen is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher. The entire series can be heard live on sjgiants.com.
California League Stories from June 28, 2021
- Grizzlies Host Los Angeles Dodgers Affiliate Quakes for 6-Game Series Starting Tomorrow - Fresno Grizzlies
- Jairo Pomares Named Low-A West Player of the Week - San Jose Giants
- Inland Empire Splits Six-Game Set with Stockton as Sixers Take Finale 6-5 - Inland Empire 66ers
- Salvador and Guzman Shutout Ports 1-0 in Masterpiece - Inland Empire 66ers
- Ports Stun Sixers in the Ninth - Inland Empire 66ers
- Ports Edged by 66ers in Series Finale - Stockton Ports
- Sweep Bid Falls Short with 10âÃâ¬Ãâ5 Loss - San Jose Giants
- De Jesus Lifts Quakes to Win in SJ - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes
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