JetHawks Rally Past Giants, 7-6

SAN JOSE, CA - The Lancaster JetHawks overcame a three-run deficit with a pair of home runs in the top of the sixth inning and then took the lead for good in the eighth on their way to a 7-6 victory over the Giants on Saturday night at Municipal Stadium. The teams have now split the first two games of the series. The loss snapped San Jose's (21-15) win streak at three games.
Frandy De La Rosa (3-for-4, RBI) had three hits and drove home a run to lead the Giants offensively in defeat. Jalen Miller (2-for-5) and Wander Franco (2-for-5, 2B) added two hits apiece while Matt Winn (1-for-4, 2B, RBI) extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI double.
Four Lancaster relievers combined on five scoreless innings and nine strikeouts to finish the game. Trailing by a run, San Jose loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but JetHawks closer Reid Humphreys escaped to notch his league-leading seventh save of the season.
The back-and-forth contest saw Lancaster jump out early with two runs in the top of the first and a single tally in the second against Giants starter Melvin Adon to take a 3-0 lead. A pair of walks put two runners on base in the first inning before Vince Fernandez belted a two-out, two-run triple to deep right center. An inning later, Willie Abreu led off with a single and stole both second and third base. Abreu then scored from third when Manny Melendez, who had walked, was thrown out at second attempting to steal.
San Jose though came back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the second. Jacob Heyward led off by drawing a walk before De La Rosa singled. Winn then stepped to the plate and grounded a double down the left field line to bring home Heyward with the first Giants run of the night. Brandon Van Horn was up next and his infield single to deep shortstop scored De La Rosa to bring San Jose to within 3-2.
The Giants then moved in front as five straight hits to begin the bottom of the third produced three runs to make it 5-3 San Jose. Miller started the inning with a single before Franco doubled into the left field corner to put runners on second and third. Gio Brusa was up next and he laced a double to the fence in deep left scoring both Miller and Franco for a 4-3 Giants lead. After Heyward singled, De La Rosa delivered the fifth straight hit as his single brought home Brusa stretching the lead to 5-3. San Jose though was unable to add to their lead in the inning as Winn grounded into a double play and Van Horn struck out to halt the rally.
The Giants scratched across a single run without the benefit of a hit in the bottom of the fourth. Johneshwy Fargas drew a leadoff walk, stole both second and third and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-3.
Meanwhile, Adon settled down after struggling early as the right-hander finished his night with three straight hitless innings from the third through the fifth. Adon retired eight out of the last nine batters he faced.
With the score at 6-3, Jeff Burke (2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO) relieved Adon to begin the top of the sixth and immediately ran into trouble. Roberto Ramos led off with a double before Fernandez crushed a two-run home run to right center cutting the San Jose lead to 6-5. Two batters later, Brian Serven belted a solo home run to left center to tie the score 6-6.
Burke recovered with a scoreless top of the seventh before the JetHawks pushed across the go-ahead run against CJ Gettman in the eighth. Ramos greeted Gettman with a double off the right center field fence before a sacrifice bunt from Fernandez advanced the runner to third. Serven then hit a sacrifice fly to center as Ramos scored to give Lancaster a 7-6 lead.
Down by a run, the Giants staged a two-out rally in the bottom of the ninth before ultimately falling short. After Humphreys retired the first two batters of the inning, Brusa and Heyward drew back-to-back four-pitch walks. De La Rosa then hit a sharp grounder to shortstop that took a bad hop and bounced off Alan Trejo. The play was ruled an infield single as Brusa advanced to third and Heyward, the possible winning run, moved to second. Humphreys though settled down to strike out Winn swinging on a 2-2 pitch ending the game.
Heath Holder (2-0) earned the win out of the JetHawks bullpen after striking out two in a perfect bottom of the seventh.
Gettman (0-1) suffered the loss for the Giants. The right-hander allowed one hit and one run over two innings with three strikeouts.
Notes
* The Giants were attempting to match their longest winning streak of the season (four games).
* San Jose out-hit Lancaster 12-7.
* The Giants were 6-for-13 (.462 AVG) with runners in scoring position compared to 2-for-4 for the JetHawks.
* Winn has matched the second-longest hitting streak in the California League this season.
* Fargas stole his 12th and 13th bases of the year - tied for fourth in the league.
* Burke and Gettman were both making their Municipal Stadium debuts after they each joined the Giants during the last road trip.
* Saturday's attendance at Municipal Stadium of 3,766 was a home season-high.
On Deck
The Giants and JetHawks continue their four-game series on Sunday afternoon with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 1:00 PM. Logan Webb (1-2, 2.70 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lancaster is expected to counter with Matt Dennis (2-5, 8.29 ERA). For tickets to the Mother's Day game, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.