Giants Bullpen Saves 5-4 Victory Over JetHawks

LANCASTER - The Lancaster JetHawks put the tying run in scoring position in each of the last three innings, but could not complete the comeback as the San Jose Giants held on for a 5-4 victory on Saturday night at The Hangar. The Giants took the lead for good with a three-run top of the fifth en route to evening the series at a game apiece.

Ben Turner (2-for-4, HR, RBI) hit a go-ahead solo home run and Shawn Payne (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, SB) delivered a key two-run double to lead San Jose offensively. Jesus Galindo (2-for-5, 2B) added a pair of hits for the Giants while Blake Miller (1-for-3, RBI) extended his hitting streak to 15 games.

San Jose starter Chris Stratton (2-3) pitched a season-high 6 2/3 innings to pick-up the win. Stratton allowed three runs (all earned) on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts during his 93-pitch effort. Stratton at one point in his outing retired 12 straight batters. Reliever Tyler Rogers recorded the final out of the seventh to keep San Jose in the lead while Steven Okert worked the last 1 1/3 innings to record his sixth save of the year.

The Giants held a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the seventh when Carlos Perdomo led off with a triple against Stratton. Two batters later, Jake Rodriguez produced an RBI groundout to trim the lead to 4-3. Then after Ruben Sosa singled, San Jose went to the bullpen as Rogers was summoned into pitch. Sosa, who was representing the tying run, promptly stole second, but Rogers came back to retire Tony Kemp on a groundout to first to end the inning.

The Giants moved back in front by two runs in the top of the eighth as Payne led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on Mitch Delfino's fly out and scored when Miller hit a sacrifice fly to right.

Lancaster though came storming back in the bottom of the eighth as Teoscar Hernandez led off with a towering home run to left center off of Tyler Mizenko to make it 5-4. After Carlos Correa grounded out, Rio Ruiz ripped a double into the left field corner and then Dan Gulbransen singled to put runners on the corners. Perdomo was up next and he hit a weak grounder to third that saw Delfino throw out Ruiz, the potential tying run, at the plate. Then Okert entered the contest and needed just one pitch to set down Danry Vasquez on a fly out to center for the final out.

Okert returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning and quickly retired the first two batters. Kemp then kept the JetHawks alive with a single into left before Hernandez walked on five pitches to again put the tying run into scoring position. However, Okert settled down to record a three-pitch strikeout of the former #1 overall pick Correa to end the game.

Lancaster finished the night 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left eight on base, including five in the last three innings.

The JetHawks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Kemp led off with a single, advanced to second on Hernandez's sacrifice bunt and scored on Correa's single into right center. Stratton though came back to hold Lancaster scoreless over the next four frames, including 1-2-3 innings in the third, fourth and fifth.

JetHawks starter Kyle Westwood began his night with three shutout innings before the Giants broke through in the top of the fourth. With one out, Delfino doubled before taking third on Brian Ragira's groundout. Then with Miller at the plate, Westwood uncorked a wild pitch allowing Delfino to score the tying run.

San Jose took the lead in the top of the fifth when Turner led off with a home run to deep left. The home run was Turner's second of the season.

The fifth-inning rally continued when Rando Moreno singled with one out before Chris Lofton drew a two-out walk. Payne was up next and he doubled down the right field line to score both runners for a 4-1 advantage.

Ruiz answered in the bottom of the sixth for Lancaster with a two-out solo homer to right. It marked the JetHawks' first baserunner since Sosa walked with two outs in the second inning.

Westwood (1-3) suffered the loss after yielding four runs (all earned) on seven hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Notes: The Giants won for the first time in five games against Lancaster this season … Both clubs finished the game with 10 hits … Miller is tied with Rancho Cucamonga's Adam Law for the longest hit streak in the California League this season … Payne has five doubles in four games with San Jose this season … Okert is 6-for-6 in save opportunities this year … The Giants improved their record to 12-18.

On Deck: The Giants and JetHawks play the rubber game of their three-game series on Sunday afternoon with first pitch at The Hangar scheduled for 2:00 PM. Kendry Flores (2-3, 4.26 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lancaster is expected to counter with Kent Emanuel (0-0, 0.00 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 1:30 PM.