SAN JOSE, CA - The Lancaster JetHawks scored once in the top of the ninth to tie the game before erupting for four runs in the 10th inning on their way to 9-6 victory over the San Jose Giants on Friday evening at Municipal Stadium. Bret Boswell smacked a tiebreaking
SAN JOSE, CA - The Lancaster JetHawks scored once in the top of the ninth to tie the game before erupting for four runs in the 10th inning on their way to 9-6 victory over the San Jose Giants on Friday evening at Municipal Stadium. Bret Boswell smacked a tiebreaking two-out, two-run triple in the top of the 10th before Brian Serven blasted a two-run home run to lead the JetHawks to the series-opening win. With the loss, the Giants (52-72) fell a season-high 20 games below .500 overall.
Heath Quinn (4-for-4, 2B, RBI) had four hits, including a double, as part of a perfect night at the plate to lead San Jose. Jalen Miller (2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI) added two hits and two RBI's while Jacob Heyward (1-for-4, HR, RBI) belted a solo home run.
The back-and-forth game saw Lancaster rally twice against the Giants bullpen. San Jose enjoyed a 4-1 lead after five innings before the JetHawks plated three runs in the top of the sixth to draw even. A leadoff single from Manny Melendez and a one-out single off the bat of Colton Welker put two runners on for Lancaster in the sixth. Giants starter Domenic Mazza then issued a walk to Tyler Nevin that loaded the bases. Mazza came back to strikeout Vince Fernandez, but Alan Trejo then worked a 10-pitch walk to bring home the first run of the inning. The bases loaded walk led to a pitching change and reliever Rodolfo Martinez promptly allowed an RBI single to Boswell on the first pitch he threw. Martinez then walked Serven on five pitches to plate Nevin with the tying run. A strikeout of Wes Rogers followed to strand the bases loaded.
After Martinez pitched a scoreless top of the seventh, San Jose reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the inning. Tanner Murphy started the rally with a one-out single before moving to second on a passed ball. Then with two down, Miller clubbed a double off the fence in deep left center to easily score Murphy for a 5-4 Giants advantage.
Frank Rubio was then summoned from the bullpen and the San Jose reliever worked around a leadoff single in the top of the eighth to maintain the one-run lead. Rubio though would immediately run into trouble in the top of the ninth. Serven led off with a line drive triple into the right field corner on an 0-2 pitch. Rogers then drew a walk before Rubio uncorked a wild pitch to bring home Serven tying the game 5-5. Rogers also advanced to second on the wild pitch and then moved to third when Melendez grounded out. Rubio though would prevent further damage in the inning as after Carlos Herrera was intentionally walked, Welker grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
The Giants were then retired in order in the bottom of the ninth before Lancaster rallied with two outs in the top of the 10th to take the lead for good. With the automatic runner at second base to begin the top of the 10th, Rubio struck out Nevin for the first out. After Fernandez was intentionally walked, Trejo flied out to left. Boswell then hammered a 1-2 pitch from Rubio off the fence in deep right for a triple. The hit brought home pinch-runner Max George from second and Fernandez all the way from first to give the JetHawks a 7-5 lead. Serven was up next and he lined a two-run home run to left to make it 9-5.
San Jose answered with a run in the bottom of the 10th, but saw their comeback bid fall short. Bryce Johnson led off with a groundout advancing the automatic runner, Murphy, to third base. Miller then grounded out plating Murphy to bring the Giants to within 9-6. Quinn followed with a double to left, but with the potential tying run in the on-deck circle, Wander Franco struck out swinging to end the game.
Heath Holder (9-1) earned the win out of the Lancaster bullpen after tossing two perfect innings over the eighth and ninth.
Rubio (1-2) was charged with five runs (four earned) on five hits over 2 2/3 innings to take the loss.
The JetHawks jumped out early with a single run in the top of the second against Mazza when Boswell delivered a two-out RBI single. San Jose though tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the inning as Heyward connected for a solo homer to left. The home run was Heyward's ninth of the season.
The Giants took their first lead in the bottom of the fourth when Brandon Van Horn drilled a two-out, two-run double into the left center field gap. In the fifth, Quinn came through with an RBI single to make it 4-1.
Meanwhile, Mazza allowed just one run over the first five innings of his start. The left-hander had retired nine of the previous 11 Lancaster batters until Melendez led off the top of the sixth with a single to jumpstart the game-tying three-run rally. Mazza struck out a season-high eight over his 5 2/3 innings pitched. He surrendered four runs (all earned) and seven hits.
Notes
* The Giants are 20 games below .500 for the first time since the 2003 season (finished 58-82 in '03).
* San Jose suffered their league-leading 24th blown save of the year. The Giants have now lost a league-high eight games when leading after seven innings.
* With four hits on Friday, Quinn raised his season batting average to .311 - fifth in the California League. He's 13-for-27 (.481 AVG) over his last seven games.
* Lancaster out-hit San Jose 14-11.
* Boswell (3-for-5, 3B, 4 RBI) and Serven (3-for-4, 3B, HR, 3 RBI) combined to drive in seven out of the JetHawks' nine runs out of the seventh and eighth spots in the batting order.
* Miller extended his hitting streak to seven games.
* The Giants played their league-leading 12th extra-inning game of the season (6-6 record).
On Deck
The Giants and JetHawks continue their three-game series on Saturday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 5:00 PM. Carlos Sano (3-3, 3.56 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lancaster is expected to counter with Brandon Gold (9-7, 5.26 ERA). It's Italian Night at the ballpark! The entire night is a celebration of Italian culture with raffles, Italian music, food and vendor booths. The first 1,000 fans through the gates receive a special San Jose Giants Italian-themed hat, presented by Country Club Villa Apartments and Battaglia Ranch Tree Farms. Fans can also bid on a game-worn Italian-Themed Giganti jerseys during an in-game silent auction. For tickets, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.
