Giants Drop Second Straight To Storm
LAKE ELSINORE, CA - The Lake Elsinore Storm scored in four of their first five innings Saturday night on their way to a 6-3 victory over the Giants at The Diamond. The loss was San Jose's (26-23) second straight to begin the series and third in a row overall.Bryce Johnson
LAKE ELSINORE, CA - The Lake Elsinore Storm scored in four of their first five innings Saturday night on their way to a 6-3 victory over the Giants at The Diamond. The loss was San Jose's (26-23) second straight to begin the series and third in a row overall.
Lake Elsinore never trailed in the contest as
The Storm though came right back with a run of their own in the bottom of the second. After Menez struck out the first two batters of the inning,
The Storm kept the pressure on with another run against Menez in the bottom of the third. Back-to-back singles from Reed and
The Giants rallied for a single run in the top of the fourth to pull back within 3-2, but stranded the potential tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position in the frame. A one-out walk to
Menez struck out the side in a perfect bottom of the fourth - his only scoreless inning on Saturday - before the Storm pushed across another run in the fifth. With one out, Reed smacked a double to deep left and again stole third. Reed then scored on Giron's groundout to shortstop for a 4-2 Lake Elsinore advantage.
Storm reliever
The Storm extended their lead to 6-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth against
The Giants managed to bring the potential tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth, but would fall short in their comeback bid. Consecutive two-out walks to Johnson and Rivera was followed by a Franco RBI single to make the score 6-3.
Ramirez (3-1) earned the win after tossing 3 2/3 hitless innings out of the bullpen. Ramirez, who retired 11 out of the 12 batters he faced, walked one and struck out six. Bednar notched his fourth save of the season.
Menez (2-3) was saddled with the loss for San Jose. The left-hander surrendered four runs (all earned) on six hits over five innings of work. Menez walked none and struck out nine - one off his career-high.
Notes
* The Giants have lost three games in a row for the first time since April 17-19. The three-game slide matches their longest losing streak of the season.
* San Jose fell to 3-5 on their road trip.
* Menez increased his season strikeout total to 67 - tied for the league lead.
* The Storm out-hit the Giants 10-6.
* The #4 through #8 hitters in the San Jose lineup were a combined 0-for-18 with eight strikeouts.
* Reed finished 4-for-4 with two singles, a double, a home run, three runs scored, an RBI and two stolen bases to lead the Lake Elsinore offensive attack. Reed is 6-for-8 in the series with two home runs.
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* San Jose remained three games behind first-place Stockton (29-20) in the first half North Division standings.
On Deck
The Giants and Storm conclude their three-game series on Sunday afternoon with first pitch at The Diamond scheduled for 1:00 PM.