Eighth-Inning Rally Propels Giants Past JetHawks

SAN JOSE, CA -Heath Quinn's go-ahead two-RBI double highlighted a four-run bottom of the eighth inning in a 4-1 Giants victory over the Lancaster JetHawks on Sunday evening at Municipal Stadium. With the comeback win, San Jose (54-72 overall, 20-36 second half) took two out of three games in the series from Lancaster.
Quinn's double erased a 1-0 deficit and gave the Giants their first lead of the contest. Gio Brusa and Sandro Fabian added RBI singles later in the frame before San Jose closed out the JetHawks in the ninth to secure the win.
Giants starter Mac Marshall tossed a season-high five innings with only one run allowed. Marshall, who retired 15 out of the 20 batters he faced, surrendered five hits, walked none and struck out five. Relievers Sam Coonrod, Joey Marciano, Dylan Rheault and Nolan Riggs then combined to throw four scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Rheault (2-3) picked-up the win after recording the final two outs of the top of the eighth before Riggs struck out the side in the ninth inning to collect his sixth save.
Lancaster's only run of the night came in the top of the fourth. Tyler Nevin led off with a single and then stole second. Bret Boswell's groundout advanced Nevin to third before Wes Rogers grounded an RBI single into left for a 1-0 JetHawks lead. Marshall then uncorked a wild pick-off throw allowing Rogers to move to third, but the San Jose starter escaped without further damage as he struck out Vince Fernandez on three pitches and set down Joel Diaz on a groundout. Marshall then finished his start with a 1-2-3 top of the fifth.
Coonrod (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) then tossed a scoreless top of the sixth in his 2018 San Jose debut. Marciano (1 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) took over to begin the top of the seventh and worked around a leadoff double to keep the deficit at 1-0. Marciano then retired the first batter of the top of the eighth before Rheault (2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) entered and pitched through a two-out single.
Meanwhile, Lancaster starter Ty Culbreth fired seven shutout innings with only three singles surrendered. Culbreth walked three, struck out six and did not allow a runner to advance past second base.
Still down by a run, the Giants finally broke through in the bottom of the eighth. With JetHawks reliever Robert Tyler on the mound, Brandon Van Horn led off with a double to deep right. Tanner Murphy then dropped down a sacrifice bunt advancing Van Horn to third before Jacob Heyward worked a four-pitch walk. With Quinn batting, Heyward, the potential go-ahead run, stole second. Quinn then on the eighth pitch of his at-bat lined a double into the right center field gap. The hit easily scored Van Horn and Heyward giving San Jose a 2-1 lead. Jalen Miller was up next and he singled to move Quinn to third. Brusa then greeted new pitcher Alexander Guillen with a line drive single into right plating Quinn with the third run of the inning. Fabian followed with a sharp single into center as Miller came home to make it 4-1.
Riggs (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO) issued a leadoff walk to Boswell in the top of the ninth, but recovered to strikeout the next three hitters - Rogers, Fernandez and Diaz, to end the game.
Tyler (0-1) was charged with all four runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the loss.
Notes
* San Jose won their league-leading eighth game this season when trailing after seven innings.
* Both teams finished with eight hits. The Giants were 4-for-7 with runners in scoring position compared to just 1-for-8 for Lancaster.
* San Jose went 14-for-32 (.438 AVG) with runners in scoring position during the three-game series.
* The Giants have not lost a series to the JetHawks at Municipal Stadium since the 2012 season.
* San Jose pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts and only one walk.
* Coonrod was added to the Giants roster on Saturday following a rehab stint in the Arizona Rookie League. He was a California League All-Star with San Jose during the 2016 season.
* Rheault also returned to the Giants on Saturday from the Richmond (AA) disabled list. He made 19 relief appearances with San Jose during the first half.
* Miller (2-for-3) extended his hitting streak to nine games.
* Quinn is batting .441 (15-for-34) with 11 RBI's over his last nine games.
On Deck
Following an off day, the Giants embark on their final road trip of the season - a seven-game stretch against the Visalia Rawhide (three games) and Modesto Nuts (four games). Tuesday's series opener in Visalia is a 7:00 PM first pitch at Recreation Park. DJ Myers (5-3, 5.26 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while the Rawhide are expected to counter with Connor Grey (10-8, 5.10 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:40 PM.