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Ports Drop Series Finale to Giants with 7-3 Final 

May 8, 2022

STOCKTON, Calif. — The clouds parted on what became a sunshine-filled afternoon at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton as the players and fans alike celebrated Mother’s Day. The Stockton Ports and San Jose Giants battled in a tight contest during the series finale, but the Ports could not keep the

STOCKTON, Calif. — The clouds parted on what became a sunshine-filled afternoon at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton as the players and fans alike celebrated Mother’s Day. The Stockton Ports and San Jose Giants battled in a tight contest during the series finale, but the Ports could not keep the Giants offense down for long enough, dropping the game late with a final of 7-3. With the final, the Giants take the six-game series from the Ports 4-2, while sending Stockton to a record of 8-19 overall.

For the second game in a row, the Giants (16-11) leaped out to a 2-0 lead in the very first inning, with a pair of two-out, run scoring hits. First, Vaun Brown stayed hot and drove home Aeverson Arteaga on a single to make it 1-0. Then, Victor Bericoto returned to the lineup and drove a double to the gap to make it 2-0 Giants.

From that point on, however, Stockton starter Blake Beers was nearly lights-out, finishing off his day with five shutout innings after laboring through the first. After striking out 10 batters in a relief appearance last Sunday, Beers struck out nine Giants in six innings, the most he has had as a starter with Stockton. Beers also hung around long enough to give the Ports a chance to battle back, something they started doing right away in the top of the first.

Max Muncy doubled with one out to get the Ports going against Will Bednar, who they saw in the series opener on Tuesday. After a Kevin Richards single, Junior Perez brought Muncy home with the third hit in-a-row for the Ports, making it a 2-1 game. The Ports would not score again until the bottom of the fourth inning, when Denzel Clarke knocked in a run on a sacrifice fly, scoring Jhoan Paulino to tie the game at 2-2 after four innings.

The seventh inning is when the game began to slip away from the Ports, as the Giants offense took advantage of the Ports bullpen. Skylar Szynski was the first man used, and he allowed a two-run home run to left center from Arteaga to make it 4-2 San Jose. Two batters later, with two down in the inning, Brown launched his fourth solo home run of the series to make it 5-2 Giants. The Giants offense added on two more runs in the top of the ninth off of Jack Owen when Bericoto delivered a crushing two-run double to the gap in right-center to make a comeback attempt all the more difficult for the Ports.

Stockton pounded out eight hits on Sunday, and Muncy led the offense by reaching base his first four times up, including two walks, and he also scored twice. Perez went 2-5 with a double in the ninth inning, and Danny Bautista finished off the series with a 2-4 performance and an RBI that came in the seventh inning. In that seventh inning, down 5-3, the Ports had the go-ahead run at the plate with runners on the corners and two down, but could not make the game any closer.

Stockton will enjoy an off day on Monday before resuming play on Tuesday with the opening of a six-game series with Rancho Cucamonga. The series begins at 11:00 am on Tuesday, with night games Wednesday-Saturday, and an afternoon affair on Sunday.