Giants Complete Sweep With 12-Inning Victory

SAN JOSE, CA - Jeff Kobernus' single down the right field line with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning scored Tyler Horan from third base with the winning run to lift the Giants to a 3-2 victory over the Bakersfield Blaze on Friday evening at Municipal Stadium. The win completed a four-game sweep of the Blaze and was San Jose's (38-47) second extra-inning triumph in the series with both game-winning hits coming from Kobernus.

The Giants trailed by a run entering the bottom of the ninth before Daniel Carbonell tied the game with a one-out RBI single. In the 12th, Horan drew a leadoff walk, stole second and was balked to third with none out by Bakersfield reliever Emilio Pagan. Pagan recovered to strikeout Brian Ragira before Ty Ross popped out to shallow center, but Kobernus followed with a shallow fly ball that dropped just inside the foul line and in front of the diving Burt Reynolds to plate Horan giving San Jose the victory.

Tyler Rogers (4-1) was credited with the win out of the bullpen after tossing a scoreless top of the 12th. Four Giants pitchers - Jason Forjet, Ian Gardeck, Dan Slania and Rogers - combined to strikeout 15 Blaze hitters.

Kobernus (2-for-5, RBI), Christian Arroyo (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Juan Perez (2-for-4, 2B) each had multi-hits games for San Jose. Carbonell (1-for-5, RBI) extended his hitting streak to 10 games with his single in the bottom of the ninth.

The Giants jumped out to an early 1-0 lead before an out was recorded in the bottom of the first. Kobernus led off with a single up the middle and immediately scored when the next batter, Arroyo, lined a double into the right field corner. The run, however, was the only San Jose tally in eight innings against Bakersfield starter Brett Ash.

Forjet started on the mound for the Giants and fired seven strong innings with just one run and six hits allowed. Forjet struck out a season-high seven and did not issue a walk during his 99-pitch performance.

Forjet began his start by retiring nine consecutive Blaze hitters over the first three innings. Bakersfield then tied the game in the top of the fourth as Nelson Ward led off with a double down the right field line and scored on Guillermo Pimentel's one-out double into deep left center.

Forjet then pitched around a leadoff single in the fifth, a two-out single in the top of the sixth and a one-out double in the seventh inning to keep the game tied.

Ian Gardeck (2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO) relieved Forjet to begin the top of the eighth and promptly allowed a run as the Blaze took their first lead of the contest. With one out, Tim Lopes lined a single into left. Gardeck then uncorked a wild pick-off throw to first for an error allowing Lopes to move to third. Moments later, a Gardeck wild pitch with Pimentel at the plate brought home Lopes to make it 2-1.

Ash finished his night with eight strikeouts and just one run and six hits allowed over eight innings. The Bakersfield right-hander retired 13 out of the final 15 batters he faced.

Trailing 2-1, the Giants rallied in the bottom of the ninth against Blaze All-Star reliever Paul Fry. With one out, Angel Villalona lined a single into center. Perez then drew an eight-pitch walk advancing pinch-runner Seth Harrison to second. Carbonell was up next and he grounded a single through the hole on the left side to easily score Harrison with the tying run. Meanwhile, Perez, the potential winning run, moved to second on the hit. Horan followed with a grounder to second that saw the Blaze force out Carbonell at second base. The throw to first, in an effort to complete an inning-ending double play, though was late. However, Perez attempted to score on the play from second and was thrown out at the plate by first baseman Kyle Petty to send the game into extra-innings.

Dan Slania (2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO) kept Bakersfield off the scoreboard in the top of the 10th and 11th innings. In the 10th, Daniel Torres led off with a single, but Slania retired the next three hitters, including two via the strikeout. In the 11th, Reynolds blooped a one-out double into shallow left, but was stranded at second after Slania struck out Petty and retired Justin Seager on a groundout.

The Giants had an opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the 10th as Ragira led off with a single, moved to second on Ross' sacrifice bunt and took third on a two-out wild pitch, but Ryder Jones struck out looking to end the threat. Then in the bottom of the 11th, Pagan struck out the side in a perfect inning of work.

Rogers (1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO) entered to begin the top of the 12th and had to pitch out of a jam to keep the game deadlocked. With two outs, Aaron Barbosa walked and stole second. Ward then beat out a slow roller to third for an infield single putting runners on the corners. Rogers though recovered to set down Lopes on a weak groundout to first to end the inning and set the stage for San Jose's walk-off heroics in the bottom of the frame.

Notes:
* Friday's victory was San Jose's first win this season when trailing after eight innings.
* Giants pitchers recorded 63 strikeouts in the four-game series (44 innings, 0.82 ERA).
* San Jose notched their first series sweep since May 22-25 (four games vs. Rancho Cucamonga).
* The Giants finished their seven-game homestand with a 5-2 record.
* Seven of San Jose's last 16 home wins have been walk-off victories.
* Forjet's seven innings pitched was a season-high (previous high: 5 1/3 innings). He lowered his ERA to 3.09.
* The Giants were 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position. The two hits were Carbonell's game-tying ninth inning single and Kobernus' game-winner in the 12th.
* Bakersfield out-hit San Jose 11-10.
* Perez (wrist) was activated off the 7-day disabled list before the game.
* The Giants (8-7) are over .500 in the second half for the first time.

On Deck: The Giants open a three-game series in Modesto on Saturday night with first pitch at John Thurman Field scheduled for 7:05 PM. Chase Johnson (4-3, 3.30 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while the Nuts are expected to counter with Johendi Jiminian (3-7, 4.86 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM.