VISALIA, CA -Pavin Smith's RBI single capped a three-run bottom of the ninth inning as the Rawhide stunned the Giants, 6-5, on Monday evening at Recreation Park. Two San Jose errors with two outs in the bottom of the ninth allowed the tying runs to score for Visalia before Smith's
VISALIA, CA -Pavin Smith's RBI single capped a three-run bottom of the ninth inning as the Rawhide stunned the Giants, 6-5, on Monday evening at Recreation Park. Two San Jose errors with two outs in the bottom of the ninth allowed the tying runs to score for Visalia before Smith's single - the only hit in the inning - brought home the winning tally. The Giants (39-43 overall, 5-7 second half) have now lost back-to-back contests to the Rawhide after opening the five-game series with consecutive wins.
Gio Brusa (2-for-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI), Heath Quinn (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI) and Johneshwy Fargas (1-for-4, HR, RBI) each homered for San Jose in defeat.
The Giants sent Rodolfo Martinez to the mound to begin the bottom of the ninth with a 5-3 lead. A walk to Camden Duzenack started the inning before Ramon Hernandez struck out swinging. Martinez then walked Adam Walton to put the potential tying run on base before a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third. Mark Karaviotis followed with a grounder to third that Wander Franco fielded and easily threw out Duzenack at the plate for the second out of the inning. Walton remained at second on the play while Karaviotis was safe at first on the fielder's choice. Austin Wilson was up next and he hit a grounder to first that Brusa fielded and flipped to Martinez covering at first. Martinez though was ruled to have missed the bag as Wilson reached safely. Martinez was charged with an error as Visalia loaded the bases. Stephen Smith then hit a grounder to second that deflected off the glove of Kelvin Beltre for another San Jose error. The miscue allowed both Walton and Karaviotis to score tying the game 5-5. Pavin Smith followed with a sharp single into left that easily scored Wilson with the winning run.
The Rawhide's bottom of the ninth included three runs on one hit, two walks and two errors.
Tommy Eveld (2-1) was credited with the win out of the Visalia bullpen after working a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.
Martinez (3-6) suffered his team-leading sixth loss of the year. All three runs charged to Martinez were unearned.
The Rawhide scored first in the contest with a run in the bottom of the second against Giants starter Carlos Sano. Jason Morozowski doubled with one out before Duzenack delivered an RBI single to give Visalia a 1-0 advantage.
Meanwhile, Rawhide starter Tyler Keele began his night with four scoreless innings before San Jose broke through in the top of the fifth. Brusa led off with a line drive home run to right to tie the game 1-1. Two batters later, Fargas belted a solo home run to left for a 2-1 Giants lead. Brusa's home run was his team-leading 13th of the season while Fargas clubbed his fourth this year.
DJ Myers (4 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO) relieved Sano to begin the bottom of the fifth and immediately allowed one run in his first inning of work as Karaviotis produced a two-out RBI single to bring Visalia even. San Jose though came right back with another home run in the top of the sixth to reclaim the lead. Bryce Johnson led off with a walk and promptly stole second. Following a Franco fly out, Quinn stepped to the plate and launched a towering two-run home run down the left field line. The homer, Quinn's eighth of the season, put the Giants ahead by a 4-2 margin.
Myers then breezed through a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth before the Rawhide scratched across one run in the seventh. Three straight one-out singles from Duzenack, Hernandez and Walton loaded the bases before Karaviotis grounded into a force out that scored one run. Myers then induced the next batter, Wilson, to also groundout to end the inning with San Jose still ahead.
The Giants took back their two-run lead with a single tally in the top of the eighth. Jacob Heyward singled with two outs before Brusa hammered an RBI double off the center field wall for a 5-3 San Jose advantage.
Myers then worked around a two-out walk in the bottom of the eighth to maintain the two-run lead before Visalia staged their dramatic rally against Martinez in the ninth.
Notes
* The Giants suffered their third loss of the season when leading after eight innings (30-3). All three losses have come since the beginning of June.
* Martinez was saddled with his third blown save in eight opportunities this year.
* Visalia out-hit San Jose 10-7.
* Brusa has homered in back-to-back games. His 13 home runs this season are tied for third in the California League.
* Fargas achieved a new career-high in home runs with Monday's round-tripper.
* Sano was making his first start of the year after seven relief appearances with the Giants. He pitched a season-high tying four innings with one run allowed (3 H, 1 BB, 4 SO).
* San Jose was one out away from securing their first series win at Visalia's Recreation Park since the 2013 season.
On Deck
The Giants and Rawhide will play the rubber game of their five-game series on Tuesday evening with first pitch at Recreation Park scheduled for 7:00 PM. Raffi Vizcaino (5-4, 4.35 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Visalia is expected to counter with Matt Peacock (1-0, 4.50 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:40 PM.
