CalL1 San Jose Giants

Visalia's Late Home Run Drops Giants in Series Opener

Published on July 31, 2013 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


SAN JOSE - Visalia's Jon Griffin hit a tiebreaking solo home run in the top of the eighth inning to lift the Rawhide to a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Giants on Tuesday evening at Municipal Stadium. In the opener of a three-game series, Visalia tied the contest with a run in the seventh before Griffin's eighth-inning blast put the Rawhide ahead for good. The loss drops San Jose's overall record to 64-45.

Elliott Blair (2-for-2, 2B) and Matt Duffy (2-for-5) had two hits apiece while Myles Schroder (1-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI) drove home a pair of runs to lead the Giants offensively in defeat.

San Jose starting pitcher Kyle Crick struck out a career-high 11 batters and allowed just two runs (both earned) over the first five innings. Crick surrendered four hits and walked two during his stint on the mound. The right-hander struck out seven consecutive hitters to begin his start.

The Giants took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning as singles from Brock Bond and Duffy to start the frame put runners on the corners. Mac Williamson then delivered a sacrifice fly to center to give San Jose the advantage.

Crick's streak of seven straight strikeouts to begin the game ended when Steven Rodriguez grounded out for the second out of the top of the third. Crick then issued walks to the next two batters, Evan Marzilli and Kevin Medrano, but retired Gerson Montilla on a groundout to end the inning.

After the Giants took the lead, however, the Rawhide broke through with two runs in the top of the fourth. Tom Belza started the inning with an infield single before stealing second. After Griffin struck out, David Peralta lined a single to right plating Belza with the tying run. Peralta then advanced to second on a wild pitch, took third when Ryan Stovall grounded out and scored the go-ahead run on Sean Jamieson's two-out single up the middle.

San Jose though answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth to reclaim the lead. Walks to Ryan Cavan and Jeff Arnold started the inning before Blair's sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third. Schroder then stepped to the plate and lined a 2-0 pitch into the right center field gap for a triple as both runners scored. The hit put the Giants back in front at 3-2.

Visalia starter Keith Hessler was able to limit the damage in the fourth inning as after Schroder's triple, Bond drew a walk, but Duffy then struck out and Williamson popped out to end the rally. Hessler then worked around a leadoff single from Devin Harris to keep San Jose off the scoreboard in the fifth inning.

Crick's outing ended with two more strikeouts in a scoreless top of the fifth. Jose Casilla (2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO) entered the game to begin the sixth and pitched through two singles in his first inning of work to maintain the 3-2 lead. The Rawhide though tied the game against Casilla in the seventh. Rodriguez led off with a single before a sacrifice bunt from Marzilli. Medrano then laced an 0-2 pitch into center for another single as Rodriguez came home with the tying run.

With the score even, Stephen Harrold (1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO) was summoned from the bullpen to begin the top of the eighth and promptly allowed a home run of his first pitch as Griffin belted a fly ball over the fence in straightaway center field. The home run, Griffin's fifth of the season, gave Visalia a 4-3 lead.

The Giants threatened against Rawhide closer R.J. Hively in the bottom of the eighth as Blair doubled with two outs to put the potential tying run in scoring position, but Schroder followed by grounding out to end the inning. Hively then struck out Bond, Duffy and Williamson in a perfect bottom of the ninth to finish the game.

Cody Wheeler (5-5), who worked a perfect seventh inning out of the Visalia bullpen, was credited with the win. Hively struck out four over two scoreless innings to record his seventh save of the year.

Harrold (3-1) was saddled with his first loss.

Notes: Crick's 11 strikeouts matches the high for a San Jose pitcher this season (Ty Blach, 11 strikeouts, May 21 at Inland Empire) ... Crick has struck out at least 10 batters in three out of his ten starts this season ... Visalia out-hit the Giants by a 12-8 margin ... San Jose was 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position ... Rawhide pitchers combined for seven walks and 13 strikeouts.

On Deck: The Giants and Rawhide continue their three-game series on Wednesday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 7:00 PM. Adalberto Mejia (3-3, 3.51 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Visalia is expected to counter with Eddie McKiernan (4-2, 3.89 ERA). Tickets can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com. The game will also be televised live on Comcast Hometown Network, Channel 104.

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California League Stories from July 31, 2013


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