LANCASTER, CA - The Lancaster JetHawks scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to take their first lead of the game before holding off a San Jose rally in the ninth en route to a 5-3 victory over the Giants on Tuesday evening at The Hangar. The defeat
LANCASTER, CA - The Lancaster JetHawks scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to take their first lead of the game before holding off a San Jose rally in the ninth en route to a 5-3 victory over the Giants on Tuesday evening at The Hangar. The defeat snapped San Jose's (3-3) win streak at three games.
Frandy De La Rosa (2-for-3, 3B, HR, 2 RBI) tripled, homered and drove in a pair of runs to lead the Giants offensively in the loss. Bryce Johnson (2-for-5) and Gio Brusa (2-for-4, 2B) also finished with two hits apiece.
Melvin Adon started on the mound for San Jose and worked 5 2/3 innings with three runs (two earned) allowed. Adon, who became the first Giants starting pitcher to work into the sixth inning this season, scattered eight hits, walked two and struck out two during his 83-pitch outing.
Colorado Rockies right-hander Jeff Hoffman started for Lancaster on a rehab assignment and the Giants touched up the major leaguer for two runs in the top of the second to take an early lead. Brusa led off the frame with a bloop single into shallow right. De La Rosa then stepped to the plate and laced an RBI triple into the right field corner. De La Rosa would also score on the play to make it 2-0 when the throw back to the infield from right fielder Willie Abreu skipped away for an error.
The JetHawks though battled back to tie the game with single runs in the bottom of the second and third innings against Adon. In the second, Vince Fernandez led off with a triple to deep center before Brian Serven walked. Alan Trejo then beat out a slow grounder to second for an RBI infield single as Fernandez scored the first Lancaster run of the contest. Adon, however, prevented further damage in the inning by setting down the next three hitters to retire the side.
In the bottom of the third, Colton Welker began the rally with a leadoff double. Three batters later, Fernandez delivered a two-out RBI single up the middle as Welker scored to tie the game 2-2.
San Jose though immediately answered as De La Rosa led off the top of the fourth with a towering home run to deep right center. The homer, De La Rosa's first of the season, put the Giants in front by a 3-2 margin.
Adon maintained the lead with back-to-back scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth, needing just seven pitches in each frame to keep the JetHawks off the scoreboard. Lancaster, however, scratched across a run in the bottom of the sixth to again draw even. Fernandez led off with a single before advancing to second on an Adon wild pick-off throw. Serven followed with a single advancing Fernandez to third. Adon came back to strikeout Trejo, but a Carlos Herrera fielder's choice groundout to third brought home Fernandez for a 3-3 tie.
San Jose threatened to take back the lead in the top of the eighth as Jacob Heyward led off with a single, stole second with two outs before a walk to De La Rosa. Matt Winn though struck out to end the inning.
The JetHawks then rallied in the bottom of the eighth scoring twice to take their first lead of the night. With reliever Dylan Rheault on the mound for the Giants, the decisive rally began with a bloop double down the left field line off the bat of Fernandez. Serven followed with a sacrifice bunt before Trejo lined a single into right center plating Fernandez with the go-ahead run. The rally continued as Herrera bounced a single into right to put runners on the corners before a Manny Melendez sacrifice fly brought home Trejo for a 5-3 Lancaster advantage.
The Giants rallied in the top of the ninth against JetHawks closer Reid Humphreys, but left the potential tying runs in scoring position. Back-to-back one-out singles from Johneshwy Fargas and Bryce Johnson put two runners on base for San Jose. Following a Jalen Miller line out to center, a passed ball advanced Fargas to third and Johnson, the potential tying run, to second. Moments later, however, Heyward grounded out weakly back to the pitcher Humphreys ending the game.
Rico Garcia, the originally scheduled starter for Lancaster, earned the win after tossing five innings of long relief with one run allowed. Garcia surrendered three hits, walked two and struck out five. Garcia allowed a home run to the first batter he faced (De La Rosa in the fourth inning) before settling down to keep the Giants off the board for the remained of his outing. Humphreys notched his third save of the year.
Rheault (0-1) was saddled with the loss after giving up both runs in the bottom of the eighth. Rheault pitched 2 1/3 innings out of the bullpen with two runs (both earned) and four hits allowed.
Notes
* Lancaster out-hit San Jose 12-10.
* The Giants were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday. San Jose is now batting just .164 as a team this season with runners in scoring position (10-for-61).
* De La Rosa is 6-for-12 (.500 AVG) with two triples and one home run over his last three games.
* The five runs allowed by the Giants was a season-high. San Jose still boasts a 1.76 team ERA.
* Fernandez went 4-for-4 with two singles, one double and one triple to lead the JetHawks offensively on Tuesday.
On Deck
The Giants and JetHawks conclude their three-game series on Wednesday evening with first pitch at The Hangar scheduled for 6:35 PM. Logan Webb (0-1, 9.00 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lancaster is expected to counter with Matt Dennis (0-1, 11.81 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:15 PM.
