Giants Win California League Championship!
"It was a great group of players from day one," said manager Brian Harper. "Our motto all year was to work hard, have fun and pick each other up. It was a special group of young men."
Stoffel earned the win out of the Giants bullpen after tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings with just one hit allowed, no walks and four strikeouts. Stoffel pitched out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in the bottom of the eighth to keep the game tied before holding the Quakes scoreless in the ninth and tenth innings.
With the game tied 6-6, Juan Perez began the 10th inning rally with a one-out triple down the right field line against Rancho Cucamonga reliever Eddie McKiernan. Jose Flores followed by drawing a walk before Johnny Monell was intentionally walked to load the bases. Culberson then delivered a sacrifice fly to deep right as Perez easily scored the go-ahead run.
"I knew they were going to walk two guys to load the bases and set up a force at home," said Culberson. "Eddie McKiernan is a great pitcher and I knew I was going to get his best stuff, but he gave me a pitch I could handle. I hit a deep fly ball and that's exactly what I was looking for. That's what I live for."
In the bottom of the 10th, Stoffel quickly set down the first two batters as Jon Townsend grounded out to third before Alberto Rosario struck out swinging. Mike Trout was then hit by a pitch on a 3-2 offering to put the potential tying run on base. With Perez at the plate, Trout stole second and advanced to third when Johnny Monell's throw bounced into center. However, Stoffel recovered to strikeout Perez swinging on a 1-2 pitch to end the game and start the championship celebration.
"I wasn't even paying attention to the runner at third," said Stoffel. "It was 1-2 on the batter and I knew what I wanted to do with him. I executed the pitch and got it done."
Brandon Crawford (2-for-3, HR, 2 RBI) hit a two-run homer in the second inning and reached base four times to lead the Giants offensive attack. Culberson (2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI) and Flores (2-for-4) also finished with a pair of hits.
Rancho Cucamonga's only lead of the evening came after scoring a single run in the bottom of the first against San Jose starter Justin Fitzgerald. Trout led off the inning with a single, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored three batters later on Gabe Jacobo's sacrifice fly to center.
The Giants immediately answered in the top of the second as Monell drew a leadoff walk before Crawford stepped to the plate with one out and belted a two-run homer to straightaway center field.
The Quakes drew even in the bottom of the third on Luis Jimenez's two-out, RBI triple before the Giants moved back ahead in the top of the fifth. With two outs in the fifth inning, Flores and Monell each singled to put runners on first and second. Culberson then grounded a double down the right field line to plate Flores for a 3-2 San Jose lead. Crawford followed by drawing a walk to load the bases and then Ehire Adrianza drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch to bring home the second run of the frame.
Rancho Cucamonga cut the Giants lead in half in the bottom of the fifth as Rosario doubled to lead off and scored two batters later on Perez's ground out. Jimenez then drew a two-out walk to prompt a pitching change as Edwin Quirarte relieved Fitzgerald. Quirarte walked Jacobo on four pitches before Wilmin Rodriguez, the third San Jose pitcher of the frame, retired Dillon Baird on a ground out to strand two runners on base.
Rodriguez worked around a one-out error in the bottom of the sixth to keep the Giants ahead before San Jose plated two runs in the seventh to take a 6-3 lead. Crawford and Adrianza drew consecutive one-out walks before a balk advanced the runners to second and third. Drew Biery then plated Crawford with a groundout to shortstop before pinch-hitter Michael Sandoval smacked a double into right center field to score Adrianza.
The Quakes though responded with a single run in the seventh and two runs in the eighth to tie the score. Jose Casilla entered the game to begin the bottom of the seventh and immediately allowed a single to Trout. A passed ball moved Trout to second before he scored on Jimenez's one-out single.
In the bottom of the eighth, Casilla issued a leadoff walk to Castillo bringing the potential tying run to the plate. Castillo stole second and then advanced to third on Matt Long's bunt single. Ryan Verdugo was summoned from the bullpen to replace Casilla and after Long stole second, Eric Oliver struck out for the first out of the inning. Rosario was up next and he bounced a single through the hole on the right side to score both Castillo and Long to tie the game 6-6.
Rancho Cucamonga had a golden opportunity to reclaim the lead later in the eighth inning as Trout was intentionally walked before Verdugo walked Perez to load the bases. Stoffel though came on and struck out Jimenez swinging on three pitches and then induced Gabe Jacobo to pop out to first on an 0-2 offering.
"That was a tough situation to come into, but I knew we weren't going to lose this game," said Stoffel. "I thought we were going to win it and I wasn't going to be the one to lose it. That was the mindset and we pulled through."
"What Stoffel did was just an unbelievable job," added Harper. "To come in with the bases loaded, one out and the fans going crazy, Jason is just a great pitcher. To strikeout their #3 hitter and pop out the #4 hitter was just a great job. And then to go two more pressure innings was a clutch performance."
The Giants threatened in the top of the ninth as Culberson and Crawford each singled to start the inning before Adrianza's sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third. However, McKiernan induced Biery to hit a check-swing slow ground ball back to the mound as Culberson was thrown out at the plate. McKiernan then struck out Simmons on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.
Rancho Cucamonga put the potential winning run into scoring position in the bottom of the ninth against Stoffel, but failed to win the game. With two outs and the bases empty, Long singled before easily stealing second. But with Jon Townsend at the plate, Long was thrown out at third attempting to steal for the final out.
San Jose then took back the lead in the 10th before Stoffel slammed the door in the bottom of the inning.
"This team is really close and you saw that throughout the year with how guys picked each other up," said Stoffel. "They (Rancho Cucamonga) battled back and tied it up, but we stayed with our game plan and got it done."
"We had a really good series against Modesto and we were confident coming into this series," added Harper. "It was just one of those things where we were the last team standing. It was a classic game and I can't be more proud of these young men."
Notes: The Giants win the best-of-five series three-games-to-two ... San Jose is the first California League team to repeat as champions since the San Bernardino Stampede in 1999 and 2000 ... The Giants won a Championship Series Game Five on the road for the first time in team history ... San Jose won Games Three (12-7, 11 innings) and Five (7-6, 10 innings) in extra-innings ... The teams combined to use 11 pitchers in Monday's game (San Jose 6, Rancho Cucamonga 5) ... Monell was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Championship Series after batting .333 (7-for-21) with three home runs ... The Giants out-hit the Quakes by an 11-10 margin ... The final game time registered four hours and 23 minutes.
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