Arroyo helps San Jose avoid elimination

After two straight one-run losses to open the California League semifinals, Christian Arroyo and his San Jose Giants knew they had no reason to panic. In Game 3, they turned the tables on the Visalia Rawhide.

Class A Advanced San Jose rallied from a four-run deficit to walk off in the bottom of the ninth on Aramis Garcia's RBI single, extending the best-of-5 series with Visalia with a 5-4 victory on Monday night.

"Looking back at the first two games of the series, we played some very good baseball. We just came out on the short end of the stick," Arroyo said. "Tonight going into the game, obviously we're not trying to think about 'win or go home.' We're trying to think of it as just another game, not trying to press, trying to stay relaxed."

The Giants' No. 2 prospect helped ignite his team in a four-run fifth that erased the Rawhide's early lead. With two runs already home in the inning, Arroyo singled to right field to put runners at the corners. After Chuckie Jones scored ahead of him on a wild pitch by Visalia's Jose Queliz, Arroyo came home on Brian Ragira's sacrifice fly to tie the contest.

"The first game of the series, we went back and forth with them," said Arroyo of his team's 6-5 loss in Game 1. "Tonight, when they went up four, we weren't really worried about it. It was still early.

"That's been our mentality all year long. The first half, we had some losing streaks. But the second half, if we lost a couple in a row, we regrouped well as a team, got another 'W' and tried to get rolling again. We've got a special team. We've got a lot of great guys, and we're all pulling together."

Deadlocked heading into the ninth, Arroyo got his team started with a leadoff walk.

"I went up there, and my objective was to get on base for the team and see what happens," he said. "I was fortunate enough to draw that walk to start off the inning. Then [Daniel] Carbonell puts down a great bunt and ends up beating it out."

Carbonell reached on a throwing error charged to Rawhide reliever Nickolas Sarianides to put runners at first and second. After Angel Villalona struck out, Sarianides hit Ragira with a pitch to load the bases. That brought up Garcia, who bounced a hard-hit chopper through the left side to plate the winning run.

"When Aramis was up with one out, as a hitter, you're thinking to get something up, get something elevated and try to hit a fly ball," Arroyo said. "Sarianides has got a really good changeup and keeps the ball down. I think Aramis was going up there trying to put the ball in play hard. My first thought off the bat was -- obviously their infield was in -- when it was hit to the hole, I took a step, looked back and saw it hit off of [Visalia third baseman Kevin] Medrano's glove. I was like, 'Let's go. We just won.'"

The Giants again have to win to extend their season when they face off with the Rawhide for Game 4 on Tuesday night in San Jose.

"In the playoff atmosphere, you kind of forget about the fatigue, and you think about the circumstances of winning," Arroyo said. "That's what it is. It's not really about your numbers anymore. It's about coming together as a team, and it's about winning."

In other Cal playoff action:

Rancho Cucamonga 6, High Desert 5
Like in San Jose, it took a run in the ninth to decide Game 3 in High Desert, with Rancho Cucamonga taking a 2-1 series lead. Joey Curletta lined an RBI single to left field to score Travis Witherspoon with the go-ahead run in the ninth. Curletta bookended his day with RBIs after a solo homer in the fifth. The Dodgers' No. 9 prospect Cody Bellinger also blasted a solo shot, his second home run of the playoffs, in the victory. Box score