Second Half Opener Ends In Ninth-Inning Heartbreak

VISALIA, CA - Visalia's Daniel Lockhart hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Rawhide to a 7-5 walk-off victory over the San Jose Giants on Thursday evening at Recreation Park. In the opening game of the second half, Gio Brusa tied the contest for the Giants with a dramatic two-run homer in the top of the ninth only to see Visalia win it in the bottom of the frame. The loss was San Jose's (30-41) fifth in a row.
Brusa (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI), Jalen Miller (2-for-4, HR, RBI) and Ryan Howard (1-for-5, HR, RBI) each homered for the Giants in defeat. Bryan Reynolds (3-for-5, 3B), Dillon Dobson (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Ronnie Jebavy (2-for-5, 2B) also finished with multi-hit games.
San Jose trailed by a 5-2 margin entering the top of the ninth when they rallied against Visalia All-Star closer Bud Jeter. The inning began with an infield single from Heath Quinn. A passed ball moved Quinn to second before Dobson laced an RBI double into the left field corner to bring the Giants to within 5-3. Brusa was up next and he launched a 1-1 pitch from Jeter over the fence in straightaway center field for a home run. The two-run homer, Brusa's team-leading 11th round-tripper of the season, tied the game 5-5.
San Jose then had a chance to take their first lead since the first inning, but left the potential go-ahead run in scoring position. Following the Brusa home run, Miller and Jebavy delivered back-to-back one-out singles to put runners on first and second. Jeter though struck out Howard and then retired Reynolds on a groundout to end the inning and keep the score tied.
Carlos Diaz had pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth for the Giants and then returned to the mound in the ninth with the game tied. Diaz though immediately ran into trouble in the ninth as Henry Castillo led off with a ringing double into the left center field gap. A wild pitch then moved Castillo, the potential winning run, to third. Moments later, Lockhart hammered a 2-2 pitch from Diaz over the fence in deep right center for a two-run walk-off homer to spark a wild celebration of Rawhide players at home plate.
Jeter (2-3) was credited with the win in spite of blowing the save in the top of the ninth. Jeter allowed three runs (all earned) on five hits in his only inning of work.
Diaz (2-1) was saddled with his first loss of the season for San Jose.
The Giants initially enjoyed a 1-0 lead when Howard blasted a one-out solo home run in the top of the first. The homer was Howard's sixth of the season.
Matt Krook started on the mound for San Jose and allowed four runs over the first two innings as the Rawhide built a 4-1 cushion. With one out in the bottom of the first, Sergio Alcántara singled before taking second on a passed ball. Austin Byler then ripped a game-tying RBI double to the fence in deep center. Visalia would later load the bases with two outs in the first, but Krook avoided further trouble when he struck out Tyler Baker to end the inning.
The Rawhide though would come back with a three-run bottom of the second against Krook. A one-out walk to Lockhart started the rally before Matt McPhearson was hit by a pitch. Alcantara then grounded a single up the middle to bring home Lockhart with the go-ahead tally. Two batters later, Jason Morozowski hit a two-out double down the left field line to score two more runs for a 4-1 Visalia advantage.
The Giants got one run back in the top of the third when Miller belted a solo home run to left. The homer, Miller's fourth this season, cut the Rawhide lead to 4-2.
Krook worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the third before yielding a single run in the fourth. Lockhart led off by drawing a walk before stealing second. A wild pitch then advanced the runner to third before Krook also walked McPhearson. Alcantara was up next and his groundout to shortstop brought home Lockhart for a 5-2 Visalia lead.
Krook was charged with five runs (all earned) on five hits over four innings. The left-hander walked four and struck out five during his 81-pitch outing.
The game would then remain at 5-2 all the way until the ninth. San Jose hit into three inning-ending double plays in the second, fourth and seventh frames. In the top of the sixth, Reynolds led off with a triple to deep center, but was stranded at third when the next three batters were retired.
David Owen (3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO) kept the Rawhide off the scoreboard over the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to keep the deficit at three runs. Owen retired eight out of the 10 batters he faced.
Notes
* Thursday's setback was San Jose's second walk-off loss this season. Their only previous walk-off defeat came on opening night (16-inning loss at Inland Empire on April 6).
* The Giants out-hit the Rawhide 14-8. Eight of the nine San Jose players in the lineup had at least one hit.
* Visalia was 5-for-12 (.417 AVG) with runners in scoring position (SJ 2-for-8).
* With three homers on Thursday, the Giants increased their season home run total to 66.
* The San Jose bullpen had allowed just two earned runs in their previous 46 1/3 innings spanning 14 games prior to the walk-off homer.
* Diaz had thrown 14 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to May 20 before surrendering the ninth-inning home run.
* Lockhart had hit just one home run in 175 at-bats this season prior to his walk-off blast.
* The current five-game skid is the Giants' second-longest losing streak of the year (season-high six-game losing streak from May 12-17).
* Reynolds' triple was his league-leading sixth of the season. With three hits on Thursday, Reynolds raised his season batting average to .301.
* San Jose fell to 4-12 against Visalia this season.
* The loss snapped the Giants' season-high four-game road winning streak.
* Over the All-Star break, outfielder Daniel Carbonell was transferred to Double-A Richmond. Infielder John Polonius was added to the San Jose roster from Salem-Keizer (Short-Season). Polonius has previously played with the Giants in 2013 and 2015.
* The Giants are still looking for their first win this season when trailing after eight innings (0-37).
* Thursday's game time temperature at Recreation Park was 107 degrees.
On Deck
The Giants and Rawhide continue their four-game series on Friday evening with first pitch at Recreation Park scheduled for 7:00 PM. Jake McCasland (2-7, 5.61 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Visalia is expected to counter with Justin Donatella (3-8, 4.33 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:40 PM.