Giants Roll To 6-1 Victory, Split With Stockton

SAN JOSE, CA - The San Jose Giants earned a split of their four-game series with Stockton following a 6-1 victory over the Ports on Thursday afternoon at Municipal Stadium. San Jose (37-41 overall, 3-5 second half) knocked out 13 hits at the plate while a trio of pitchers - Raffi Vizcaino, Peter Lannoo and Frank Rubio - combined to limit the Ports to a single run.
Heath Quinn (3-for-4, HR, RBI, SB) homered as part of a three-hit effort to lead the Giants offensively. Bryce Johnson (3-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Jalen Miller (3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI) added three hits apiece from the top two spots in the batting order.
Vizcaino (5-4) earned the win after tossing five innings in his start with just one run allowed. Vizcaino surrendered four hits, walked a career-high five batters and struck out four during his 91-pitch outing. Lannoo (3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) then held Stockton off the board over the next three innings before Rubio (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) closed it out in the ninth.
The Ports' only run of the contest came in the top of the first inning when Vizcaino walked in a run. A walk to Brallan Perez started the game before Luis Barrera singled to put runners on first and second. Vizcaino came back to retire the next two hitters before a walk to Sandber Pimentel loaded the bases. Luke Persico was up next and he also walked as Perez came home for a 1-0 Stockton lead. Vizcaino though prevented further damage when he induced Will Toffey to pop out to third on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.
San Jose immediately answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the first - also on a bases loaded walk. Back-to-back singles from Johnson and Miller started the inning before a Quinn one-out single loaded the bases. Jacob Heyward then worked a five-pitch walk to force home Johnson with the tying run. Ports starter Dustin Hurlbutt, however, came back to strikeout Gio Brusa and set down John Riley on a fly out to right to end the inning.
After Vizcaino worked back-to-back scoreless frames, the Giants took a 2-1 lead when Quinn launched the first pitch of the bottom of the third over the fence in deep left center for a solo home run. The homer was Quinn's seventh of the season.
Vizcaino had retired six straight Ports batters until Barrera singled with one out in the top of the fifth. Mondou then lined a single to right advancing Barrera, the potential tying run, to third. Mondou though was thrown out at first on the play by right fielder Johneshwy Fargas after rounding the base too far. Vizcaino followed with a walk to Dairon Blanco, but recovered to strikeout Pimentel ending the inning.
San Jose extended their lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth as Wander Franco led off with a single before Quinn walked. Franco then stole third and scored two batters later when Brusa hit a sacrifice fly to right.
Lannoo relieved Vizcaino to begin the top of the sixth and maintained the two-run lead throughout his entire long relief outing. Stockton threatened in the top of the seventh, but left the bases loaded as Lannoo escaped the jam. With one out, Barrera was hit by a pitch before Blanco singled with two down. Pimentel then reached safely on a fielding error committed by Miller at second to load the bases, however Lannoo came back to strikeout Persico to retire the side. Lannoo then finished his afternoon with a 1-2-3 top of the eighth.
The Giants broke the game open with three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Four straight hits to start the inning produced the three tallies for San Jose. Kelvin Beltre led off with a single before a bunt single from Fargas. Johnson then lined a double to right plating Beltre with the first run of the inning. Miller followed with a double off the fence in deep left as Fargas and Johnson both scored to make it 6-1.
Rubio then needed only nine pitches to set down the Ports in the top of the ninth to seal the San Jose victory.
Hurlbutt (2-3) suffered the loss after yielding three runs (all earned) over 5 1/3 innings. He surrendered eight hits, walked five and struck out eight. The five walks and eight strikeouts were both season-high totals.
Notes
* The Giants won for just the third time in their last 12 home games.
* San Jose out-hit Stockton 13-7.
* The Ports went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 12 on base.
* Quinn has homered in back-to-back games. He also has four home runs in his last eight games.
* Miller's double was his 19th of the season - tied for sixth in the California League.
* Vizcaino has a 2.84 ERA (6 ER/19.0 IP) over his last four starts.
On Deck
The Giants next travel to Visalia for a five-game series against the Rawhide. Friday's series opener is a 7:00 PM first pitch at Recreation Park. Logan Webb (1-2, 2.11 ERA) is slated to make the start on the mound for San Jose while Visalia is expected to counter with Riley Smith (4-3, 3.75 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:40 PM.