Giants Win In Wild Walk-Off Fashion
SAN JOSE, CA - A wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning scored Jesus Galindo from third base with the winning run to lift the San Jose Giants to a 3-2 victory over the Inland Empire 66ers on Saturday evening at Municipal Stadium. The Giants (30-39) have now won two out of the first three games of the series versus the 66ers.
Ben Turner (3-for-4, 2B, RBI) had three hits, including a run-scoring double, to lead the San Jose offensive attack on Saturday. Ryder Jones (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Christian Arroyo (2-for-5, 2B) added two hits apiece for the Giants.
Three San Jose relievers - Christian Jones, Tyler Rogers and Dan Slania - combined for five scoreless innings with just one hit allowed to keep the game tied. Slania (2-2) pitched the top of the 10th to earn the win.
With the score tied 2-2, Galindo began the rally in the bottom of the 10th with a one-out infield single to shortstop. After Seth Harrison flied out to left, Arroyo stepped to the plate and blooped a single into shallow right center to advance Galindo to third. Hunter Cole was up next, but the first pitch from Inland Empire reliever Geoff Broussard skipped past the catcher. The wild pitch easily scored Galindo from third with the game-winning tally.
Broussard (2-1), who entered the game to begin the bottom of the 10th, was saddled with the loss.
Former major leaguer Tommy Hanson started on the mound for the Giants and tossed five innings with two runs (both earned) and five hits allowed. Hanson walked three and struck out five during his 77-pitch outing.
Hanson began his night with three scoreless innings yielding just two singles. The Sixers though took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth when clean-up hitter Michael Snyder connected for a one-out solo homer to left center. The home run was Snyder's second of the series and sixth of the year.
San Jose responded with two runs in the bottom of the fourth against Inland Empire starter Victor Alcantara to move in front. Tyler Horan walked with one out and immediately scored the tying run when the next batter, Jones, lined a double into the right center field gap. Turner then laced a double into deep left center plating Jones to give the Giants a 2-1 lead.
Hanson returned to the mound in the top of the fifth, but promptly allowed a run as the 66ers tied the score. Pedro Ruiz drew a leadoff walk and stole second. Ruben Sosa then bounced a single up the middle to plate Ruiz tying the game 2-2.
Jones (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO) relieved Hanson to start the top of the sixth and worked two scoreless innings to keep the game deadlocked. Jones retired six out of the seven batters he faced. Rogers (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO) then fanned two in a perfect top of the eighth before pitching around a two-out walk in the ninth. Slania (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) needed just nine pitches to set down Inland Empire 1-2-3 in the top of the 10th.
Meanwhile, Garrett Nuss fired five shutout innings of long relief for the Sixers from the fifth through the ninth frames. San Jose's only baserunners against Nuss were a one-out double from Arroyo in the fifth and a two-out single off the bat of Turner in the bottom of the sixth. Nuss finished his outing by retiring the last nine Giants hitters, including six via the strikeout, before San Jose rallied in the 10th against Broussard.
Notes:
* San Jose has five walk-off wins this season - all since May 20.
* The Giants improved to 5-5 in extra-inning games. Six of San Jose's last 23 games have gone into extras.
* The Giants out-hit the Sixers 8-6.
* The teams combined to go 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position (San Jose 1-for-10, Inland Empire 1-for-6).
* Slania lowered his ERA to 1.91. Saturday marked his league-leading 29th appearance of the season.
* In two starts with the Giants, Hanson has pitched 10 innings and allowed two runs (1.80 ERA) on seven hits. He's walked four and struck out 13. Hanson has 121 career major league starts with the Braves (2009-12) and Angels (2013).
* San Jose has allowed only two runs over their last 21 innings.
On Deck: The Giants close out the first half on Sunday afternoon with the finale of their four-game series versus Inland Empire. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 1:00 PM. Chase Johnson (3-2, 3.23 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while the 66ers are expected to counter with Sean Newcomb (2-0, 3.82 ERA). Tickets for the Father's Day game are available and can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com.