SAN JOSE, CA - Cody Reed lived up to his billing as the Arizona Diamondbacks thirteenth-ranked prospect as he spun a seven-inning start with ten strikeouts to lead Visalia (63-64/27-30) to a 4-2 victory over San Jose (57-70/27-30) and a series win at Municipal Stadium.
SAN JOSE, CA - Cody Reed lived up to his billing as the Arizona Diamondbacks thirteenth-ranked prospect as he spun a seven-inning start with ten strikeouts to lead Visalia (63-64/27-30) to a 4-2 victory over San Jose (57-70/27-30) and a series win at Municipal Stadium.
Reed (W, 5-5) set a season-best mark with Visalia by completing seven innings while his ten strikeouts were one shy of his season best that he tied earlier this April while pitching with the Kane County Cougars. He set down the first eight Giants hitters that he faced and pitched five perfect innings of his seven. He allowed one run in the third, when Ryan Howard singled home Jalen Miller, and another in the fifth on a solo homer by Ronnie Jebavy.
After Jebavy's solo shot, Reed went on to retire the final eight men that he would face in order, striking out three.
For the third straight night, the Rawhide offense got to work early and scored in the first inning, this time on a double by Grant Heyman to score Jason Morozowski off of Grant Watson. After San Jose tied the game in the third, Visalia struck right back for three runs in the fourth, to take the lead. Only one of the runs was earned, as Tyler Baker reached on an error by Dillon Dobson at first with one out in the inning. Henry Castillo then drew a four-pitch walk from Watson and, two pitches later, Fernery Ozuna slashed a line drive into the right-center field gap, scoring both Baker and Castillo and setting Ozuna up to score on a Matt McPhearson RBI single.
Watson (L, 4-3) lasted through 5.2 innings and surrendered four runs, two earned, on five hits with four strikeouts. Michael Cederoth and Matt Solter finished off the final 2.1 innings for the Giants while allowing only three hits.
Yoan López (SV, 3) entered with two outs and a man on in the eighth inning and struck out Ryan Howard on four pitches to send the game to the ninth. Lopez came back for the ninth to complete a four-out save. Jonah Arenado reached on a swinging bunt that Lopez overthrew into right field. Arenado reached second, bringing the tying run to the plate. Lopez proceeded to strike out Dobson, Gio Brusa, and Matt Win in order to end the game.
Visalia will have a day off tomorrow and will come back to Visalia to begin their final homestand of the season on Tuesday night, starting with a three-game series against San Jose. Visalia will send RHP Sam Lewis (1-2, 3.32) to the hill against San Jose Giants LHP Garrett Williams (4-2, 2-1, 1.42) with first pitch slated for 7 PM. Tickets are still available on Rawhidebaseball.com.
