Sloppy Seventh Costs Giants In 8-5 Loss

LAKE ELSINORE - The Lake Elsinore Storm took advantage of two walks that loaded the bases and a dropped fly ball during a three-run bottom of the seventh en route to an 8-5 victory over the Giants on Thursday night at The Diamond. After San Jose had rallied to tie the score 5-5, the Storm went back in front with their seventh-inning rally as the Giants' bid to sweep the three-game series fell short.

With the loss, San Jose (71-65) falls three games behind Visalia (74-62) in the North Wild Card race. Only four games remain in the regular season.

Brandon Bednar (2-for-4, HR, RBI) homered as part of a two-hit night while Chuckie Jones (2-for-5, 3 RBI, 2 SB) drove in three runs to lead the Giants offensively in defeat. 

With the score knotted at five apiece, the bottom of the seventh began with Lake Elsinore's Alberth Martinez bouncing a single into left off of San Jose reliever Mason McVay. McVay then issued back-to-back walks to Jeudy Valdez and Jeremy Baltz, despite both hitters attempting to sacrifice bunt throughout their plate appearances. The two free passes loaded the bases with none out. McVay recovered to strikeout Gabriel Quintana looking on a 3-2 pitch, but Dane Phillips followed by grounding a single into right plating Martinez giving the Storm the lead. Stephen Johnson was then summoned from the bullpen to face Duanel Jones, who drove a high fly ball to deep left center field. Giants center fielder Daniel Carbonell raced back to the edge of the warning track, but then dropped the fly ball for a costly error. Two runs scored on the play as Lake Elsinore extended their lead to 8-5.

San Jose was then held off the scoreboard over the final two innings as the Storm secured the victory. Tyler Horan singled with one out in the top of the eighth, but the next two batters were retired. Then in the ninth, pinch-hitter Shawn Payne reached on a one-out infield single, but Storm closer Brandon Alger set down Carbonell on a line out to third before Jones flied out to center to end the game.

Adam Cimber (5-3) earned the win out of the Lake Elsinore bullpen after tossing scoreless seventh and eighth innings. Alger was credited with his 13th save.

McVay (0-5) suffered the loss for the Giants. The left-hander was charged with all three runs (two earned) during the decisive seventh-inning rally.

The game got off to a wild start as the two teams combined for nine runs on 11 hits over the first 1 1/2 innings. Carbonell led off the contest with a triple into the right field corner and immediately scored when the next batter, Jones, lined a single into center. Ryan Lollis then reached on an error advancing Jones to second before Mitch Delfino laced an RBI single into left for a 2-0 San Jose advantage.

The Storm though answered with five runs in the bottom of the first inning against Giants starter Pat Young. A one-out walk to Valdez followed by a single from Baltz put two on base. Quintana then grounded out advancing the runners to second and third before Phillips lined a single off of Young to plate two tying the game 2-2. Jones then crushed an RBI double off the wall in left giving Lake Elsinore the lead. The rally continued when Luis Domoromo ripped an RBI double down the left field line scoring Jones to make it 4-2. Niko Gallego then greeted new pitcher Jorge Bucardo with a single through the hole on the left side to score Domoromo for a 5-2 advantage.

Young was charged with five runs (all earned) on four hits in 2/3 of an inning. The right-hander, who retired only two out of the seven batters he faced, walked one and did not record a strikeout.

San Jose, however, came right back with two more runs in the top of the second. Consecutive singles from Bednar and Ydwin Villegas started the frame. After Carbonell grounded out to advance the runners to second and third, Jones stepped to the plate and singled sharply up the middle scoring both Bednar and Villegas to trim the lead to 5-4.

The Giants then tied the score when Bednar launched a solo home run down the left field line in the top of the sixth. The home run was Bednar's fourth this season in San Jose.

Bucardo fired 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief scattering five hits with no walks and four strikeouts. He tossed a 1-2-3 bottom of the second before pitching around a two-out single in the third. Gallego led off the bottom of the fourth with a double, but Bucardo recovered to set down the next three hitters. The Storm then produced a pair of singles in the fifth, but again came away empty-handed before San Jose tied the game in the sixth.

McVay (1 1/3 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO) breezed through a nine-pitch bottom of the sixth to keep the game tied before running into trouble in the seventh.

Notes: The Storm out-hit the Giants 12-10 … Lake Elsinore avoided getting swept in a series at home for the first time since May … Horan (2-for-4) also produced a multi-hit game for San Jose … The Giants finish with a 5-2 record against the Storm this season.

On Deck: The Giants conclude the regular season with a four-game series in Adelanto against the High Desert Mavericks. Friday's series opener at Heritage Field is scheduled to begin at 7:05 PM. Joe Kurrasch (7-4, 3.16 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while High Desert has yet to announce a starting pitcher. The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM.