Giants Swept In Lake Elsinore With 10-7 Defeat
LAKE ELSINORE - The Lake Elsinore Storm jumped out to an eight-run lead after two innings and then held off San Jose late to post a 10-7 win over the Giants on Monday evening at The Diamond. With the victory, the Storm completed a sweep of the three-game series while San Jose finished their road trip with a 1-5 record.
Chris Lofton (3-for-5, HR, 5 RBI) homered and drove in five runs to lead the Giants offensively in defeat.
Lake Elsinore scored four runs in both the first and second innings to take a commanding 8-0 lead over San Jose. Travis Jankowski began the bottom of the first with a triple to left off of Giants starter Jason Forjet before B.J. Guinn drew a walk. Jace Peterson then reached on a fielder's choice as his grounder to first was thrown away to second by Ricky Oropesa for an error. Peterson was credited with an RBI on the play as Jankowski scored to make it 1-0. A.J. Kirby-Jones followed with a double to deep left scoring two more runs before Duanel Jones came through with a one-out RBI double for a 4-0 advantage.
Forjet exited the game with two outs, the bases loaded and after throwing 37 pitches. Stephen Harrold entered from the bullpen and induced Jankowski, the 10th batter of the inning, to fly out to left to keep the score at 4-0.
The Storm though kept the pressure on in the bottom of the second as Harrold allowed five straight hits to begin the inning. Guinn led off with a double before immediately coming home when the next batter, Peterson, singled. After Peterson stole second, Kirby-Jones picked-up his third RBI of the game with a single to make it 6-0. Jeremy Baltz was up next and he launched a two-run homer down the left field line to increase the lead to 8-0.
Over the first two innings, Lake Elsinore sent 19 batters to the plate and scored eight runs on nine hits.
The Storm extended their lead to 9-0 in the bottom of the fifth against Chris Marlowe as Jeremy Rodriguez drew a leadoff walk before consecutive singles from Kyle Gaedele and Jankowski loaded the bases with none out. Guinn then brought home a run with a groundout to first.
Meanwhile, Lake Elsinore starting pitcher Matt Jackson began his outing with five no-hit innings. San Jose only baserunners over the first five frames were walks to Devin Harris and Bobby Haney in the second and third innings respectively.
The Giants finally broke through with a hit in the top of the sixth when Lofton lined a one-out single to left. Lofton then advanced to second when Kelby Tomlinson grounded out before coming home on Brock Bond's single to center.
The Storm, however, got the run right back in the bottom of the sixth as Marlowe issued two walks before Gaedele greeted new pitcher Jose Casilla with a two-out, RBI single.
Trailing 10-1, San Jose rallied in the top of the seventh. Ricky Oropesa led off with a single before Jeff Arnold singled with one out. Shawn Payne then produced the third single of the inning to score a run and make it 10-2. Then with two outs, Lofton crushed a three-run homer to deep right. The home run, Lofton's second of the season, moved the Giants to within 10-5.
After both teams were retired 1-2-3 in the eighth, Harris began the top of the ninth with a line drive double off the fence in left center. With one out, Payne then drew a walk before Haney grounded out to move the runners to second and third. Down to their last out, Lofton followed with a sharp grounder down the left field line for a single as both runners came home to make it 10-7. However, with the potential tying run in the on-deck circle, Lake Elsinore's Dan Cortes retired Tomlinson on a routine groundout to second to end the game.
Jackson (6 1/3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO) earned the win after tossing 6 1/3 innings with four runs (all earned) and five hits allowed. He walked two and struck out four.
Forjet (2-1), who was making his first start since June 3, suffered the loss. The right-hander surrendered four runs (three earned) on four hits over 2/3 of an inning - the shortest start from a San Jose pitcher this season. He walked two and struck out one.
Notes: The Giants allowed 29 runs over the three-game series … Lake Elsinore had five innings in the series with four or more runs … San Jose was swept in a road series for the first time all season … Lofton became the second Giants player to record five RBI's in a game this year (Harris) … The Storm out-hit San Jose by a 14-8 margin … Harrold (2 1/3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO), Marlowe (2 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO), Casilla (1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) and Derek Law (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) all pitched out of the Giants bullpen … San Jose's overall record dropped to 58-38.
On Deck: After an off day on Tuesday, the Giants begin a six-game homestand Wednesday evening with the first of three straight contests against the Modesto Nuts. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Kyle Crick (1-1, 1.21 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Eddie Butler (3-3, 3.08 ERA). Tickets can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com.