SAN JOSE, CA -Raffi Vizcaino tossed six scoreless innings and Matt Winn hit a two-run home run to lead the San Jose Giants to a 3-2 victory over the Lancaster JetHawks on Friday evening at Municipal Stadium. In the opener of a four-game series, San Jose built an early 3-0
SAN JOSE, CA -Raffi Vizcaino tossed six scoreless innings and Matt Winn hit a two-run home run to lead the San Jose Giants to a 3-2 victory over the Lancaster JetHawks on Friday evening at Municipal Stadium. In the opener of a four-game series, San Jose built an early 3-0 lead and then held off the JetHawks late to secure their third straight win overall. The Giants reach the midpoint of the first half with a 21-14 record - tied with Stockton for first place in the North Division.
Vizcaino (3-2) allowed just two singles, walked four and struck out a season-high nine batters during his dominant start to pick-up the win. Patrick Ruotolo allowed two runs in the top of the eighth, but came back with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to collect his fifth save of the year.
Winn (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI) extended his hitting streak to 14 games with his home run to lead San Jose at the plate. Gio Brusa (2-for-4, RBI) added a pair of hits and an RBI.
The Giants took an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second against JetHawks starter Rico Garcia. With two outs, Frandy De La Rosa singled before Winn stepped to the plate and belted an opposite-field two-run homer to deep right center. The home run was Winn's fourth of the season.
San Jose pushed across another run in the bottom of the third as John Polonius was hit by a pitch to start the inning, Wander Franco reached on a two-out error before Brusa delivered an RBI single into left center to make it 3-0.
Meanwhile, Vizcaino cruised early allowing only one hit over the first four innings - a two-out infield single to Forrest Wall in the top of the third. Vizcaino struck out two batters in each of the second and fourth innings - both 1-2-3 frames. Lancaster threatened in the top of the fifth as Vince Fernandez led off with a single before Jacob Bosiokovic was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with none out. Vizcaino though settled down striking out Willie Abreu, retiring Joel Diaz on a groundout and then registering a strikeout of Carlos Herrera to end the inning.
Vizcaino then finished his night with a scoreless top of the sixth pitching around a two-out walk and a balk to keep the lead at 3-0.
Rodolfo Martinez (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO) pitched the top of the seventh for the Giants and issued a one-out walk to Bosiokovic before Diaz singled with two outs to bring the potential tying run to the plate. Martinez, however, came back to set down Herrera on a fly out ending the threat.
In the eighth, Ruotolo entered from the bullpen and immediately ran into trouble as Wall led off with a single before Alan Trejo drew a walk. Ruotolo recovered with a strikeout of Colton Welker before Wall and Trejo successfully executed a double steal. Roberto Ramos was up next and he grounded out weakly back to the mound, but Fernandez followed with a bloop single into shallow right center plating both Wall and Trejo to bring the JetHawks within 3-2. A walk to Bosiokovic advanced the potential tying run to second, but Ruotolo prevented further damage when he induced Abreu to ground into a force out to retire the side.
With the score still at 3-2, Ruotolo (2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO) returned to the mound in the top of the ninth and quickly set down Lancaster in order to seal the victory. Ruotolo finished the game with a swinging strikeout of Wall.
Garcia (4-3) suffered the loss after yielding three runs (two earned) on four hits over six innings. He struck out six and did not issue a walk.
Notes
* Friday was the opener of a seven-game homestand.
* The Giants improved to 11-5 at Municipal Stadium this season - the top home record in the league.
* Winn has hit all four of his home runs this year during his current hit streak.
* Vizcaino is 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA (4 ER/17.0 IP) in three starts against Lancaster this season (0-2, 6.28 ERA versus the rest of league). He finished two strikeouts shy of matching his career-high on Friday.
* Ruotolo (1.88 ERA) is a perfect 5-for-5 in save opportunities this season. Friday was the only the second two-inning save of his professional career (July 26, 2016 with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes). Ruotolo owns 26 saves over his three-year professional career.
* The JetHawks out-hit the Giants 5-4, but finished just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
* Brusa is 9-for-17 (.529 AVG) over his last four games.
* Catcher Tanner Murphy was added to San Jose's roster before the game on Friday after he was acquired via trade from the Atlanta Braves last week. In a corresponding roster move, catcher Connor Sabanosh was transferred to Extended Spring Training.
* Friday's attendance at Municipal Stadium of 3,058 was a home season-high.
On Deck
The Giants and JetHawks continue their four-game series on Saturday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 5:00 PM. Melvin Adon (0-3, 5.40 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lancaster is expected to counter with Ty Culbreth (0-0, --- ERA). The San Jose Giants are hosting their fifth annual STAR WARS Night on Saturday. STAR WARS characters will be taking over the ballpark, young Padawans will be given light swords and the team will wear special STAR WARS jerseys which can be bid on during an in-game silent auction. For tickets, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.
