SAN BERNARDINO, CA - The San Jose Giants opened the 2018 season with a 3-2 loss to the Inland Empire 66ers on Thursday evening at San Manuel Stadium. Kevin Williams Jr.' RBI groundout in the bottom of the eighth gave Inland Empire the lead for good before the Sixers closed
SAN BERNARDINO, CA - The San Jose Giants opened the 2018 season with a 3-2 loss to the Inland Empire 66ers on Thursday evening at San Manuel Stadium. Kevin Williams Jr.' RBI groundout in the bottom of the eighth gave Inland Empire the lead for good before the Sixers closed out the Giants in the ninth to seal the win. San Jose finished the contest 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
Tyler Beede made the opening night start for the Giants and fired five effective innings with just one hit and one run allowed. Beede was added to San Jose's roster from Triple-A Sacramento before the game due to weather concerns of the River Cats season-opening series in Tacoma. He walked three and struck out four during his 71-pitch outing.
Jeff Arnold (2-for-4) was the only Giants player to finish with a multi-hit game in defeat.
Inland Empire opened the scoring with a single tally in the bottom of the first without the benefit of a hit. Beede began his night by issuing back-to-back walks to Jahami Jones and Luis Rengifo. Jack Kruger's deep fly out to center then advanced the runners to second and third before a Jared Walsh groundout plated Jones with the first run of the night.
Beede settled down to not allow a run for the remainder of his start. The right-hander retired 11 straight 66ers hitters until a fourth-inning walk to Williams. Inland Empire's only hit against Beede came with two outs in the bottom of the fifth when Roberto Baldoquin blooped a two-out single into shallow right center.
66ers starter Griffin Canning fired four scoreless innings with just one hit allowed. Canning, who was selected in the second round of last year's draft by the Angels, walked two and struck out six during his dominant start. San Jose though would even the score with a run in the top of the fifth against the Inland Empire bullpen. Wander Franco led off by reaching on an error before an Arnold single put runners on the corners with none out. Jalen Miller then hit a fly ball into shallow right that was dropped by the second baseman Jones for another error. The miscue allowed Franco to score from third with the tying run. Two batters later, Brandon Van Horn singled to load the bases with one out, but the Giants were unable to take the lead as Frandy De La Rosa struck out and Heath Quinn lined out to center to end the inning.
San Jose again left the bases loaded in the top of the seventh as the score remained tied 1-1. Arnold led off with a single before moving to second on a Miller sacrifice bunt. A one-out walk to Bryce Johnson and a two-out walk to De La Rosa loaded the bases, however Quinn struck out on three pitches to end the threat.
Melvin Adon, the originally scheduled opening night starter for the Giants, relieved Beede to begin the bottom of the sixth and struck out the side in a scoreless inning to begin his evening. However, Adon ran into trouble in the bottom of the seventh as the Sixers plated a run to reclaim the lead. With one out, Jonah Todd singled before a Baldoquin two-out single put runners on first and third. Then with DJ Jenkins at the plate, Adon uncorked a wild pitch to bring home Todd giving Inland Empire a 2-1 lead.
The Giants though immediately answered with a run of their own in the top of the eighth to tie the game. Gio Brusa started the frame with a double to the fence in deep center. A Sandro Fabian sacrifice bunt moved Brusa to third before Franco blasted a game-tying double to deep left center. Franco though was stranded at second when the next two hitters, Arnold and Miller, both grounded out.
Adon returned to the mound in the bottom of the eighth with the scored tied 2-2 and promptly walked Rengifo to begin the inning. A one-out stolen base put the go-ahead run into scoring position before Walsh lined a single to right to put runners on the corners. Williams then grounded out softly to third base, but Rengifo raced home on the play to put the 66ers back in front at 3-2.
The Giants were then retired 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth as Inland Empire secured the opening night victory.
Kyle Halbohn (1-0) earned the win out of the 66ers bullpen after pitching the last two innings of the game with one run allowed and one strikeout.
Adon (0-1) was charged with two runs (both earned) on four hits over three innings of long relief to take the loss. The right-hander walked two and struck out six.
Notes
* The Giants suffered an opening night loss at Inland Empire for the second straight season. Last year, San Jose lost 4-3 in 16 innings to the 66ers in the first game of the year.
* The Giants out-hit the Sixers by a 6-5 margin on Thursday.
* The teams were a combined 3-for-22 with runners in scoring position (San Jose 2-for-15, Inland Empire 1-for-7).
* Beede also made the opening night start for the San Jose Giants in 2015 en route to midseason California League All-Star honors.
On Deck
The Giants and 66ers continue their season-opening four-game series on Friday evening with first pitch at San Manuel Stadium scheduled for 7:05 PM. Logan Webb is slated to make the start on the mound for the Giants. Los Angeles Angels pitcher Andrew Heaney is expected to start for the Sixers on a rehabilitation assignment. The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:45 PM.
