SAN JOSE, CA - Visalia's Luis Alejandro Basabe singled home the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning to lift the Rawhide to a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Giants on Wednesday evening at Municipal Stadium. A night after San Jose earned an extra-inning win, Visalia bounced
SAN JOSE, CA - Visalia's Luis Alejandro Basabe singled home the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning to lift the Rawhide to a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Giants on Wednesday evening at Municipal Stadium. A night after San Jose earned an extra-inning win, Visalia bounced back with their own extra-inning triumph. With the loss, the Giants (28-25) fell four games behind first-place Stockton in the first half North Division race.
Tanner Murphy (1-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI) produced a two-run triple in the bottom of the fourth to account for all of San Jose's offense in defeat. Jalen Miller (2-for-4, SB) added a pair of singles and a stolen base for the Giants.
San Francisco Giants infielders Joe Panik and Alen Hanson both played for San Jose Wednesday night on rehabilitation assignments. Panik played the first nine innings at second base and finished 0-for-3 with a walk at the plate. Hanson played five games at shortstop and collected one single in his three at-bats.
The Rawhide took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Pavin Smith belted a solo home run down the right field line off of Giants starter Sandro Cabrera. San Jose though came back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth to move in front. Back-to-back singles from Wander Franco and Miller started the inning before Jacob Heyward flied out. Murphy then laced a line drive to center that skipped by Luis Silverio and rolled towards the warning track. Both Franco and Miller scored on the play while Murphy raced into third safely with a triple. The two-run hit gave San Jose a 2-1 lead.
Visalia though immediately answered with a run in the top of the fifth to tie the game. With one out, Dominic Miroglio drew a walk before consecutive singles from Silverio and Basabe loaded the bases. Mark Karaviotis then hit a sacrifice fly to center plating Mirogilo to make the score 2-2.
Cabrera pitched a season-high seven innings for the Giants surrendering just two runs (both earned) on seven hits. He walked four, struck out four and induced three double plays during his 93-pitch outing.
San Jose had opportunities to reclaim the lead late in the game, but left the potential go-ahead run at third base in both the seventh and eighth innings. In the bottom of the seventh, Brandon Van Horn walked with two outs, moved to second on a wild pitch, took third on a balk, but was stranded when Panik struck out. An inning later, Miller singled with two outs, stole second and advanced to third when the throw bounced into center field. Heyward though struck out to end the inning.
Caleb Baragar (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO) worked around a two-out walk in the top of the eighth for the Giants to keep the game tied before Dylan Rheault needed just seven pitches in a 1-2-3 top of the ninth. San Jose though was set down in order in the bottom of the frame to force extra-innings.
In the top of the 10th, with the automatic runner at second base to begin the inning, Basabe led off with a bloop single into shallow left. The hit easily scored Silverio to give the Rawhide a 3-2 lead. Basabe finished the game 4-for-4 with four singles. Rheault did come back to retire the next three hitters, including two via the strikeout, to prevent further damage in the inning.
The Giants, however, were unable to rally in the bottom of the 10th. With Johneshwy Fargas at second base as the automatic runner, Van Horn grounded out to third before consecutive strikeouts of Dylan Manwaring and Bryce Johnson ended the game.
Junior Garcia (2-2) earned the win for Visalia after pitching a perfect bottom of the ninth. Tommy Eveld retired all three batters he faced in the 10th inning to collect his third save of the year.
Rheault (1-2) was saddled with the loss for San Jose. He allowed just the one unearned run and one hit in his two innings out of the bullpen.
Notes
* San Jose has still won two out of the first three games in the series.
* The Giants fell to 6-3 in extra-inning games this season. Visalia notched their first extra-inning win this season in seven games.
* The Rawhide out-hit San Jose 8-6.
* The Giants finished 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
* Cabrera's seven innings pitched matched the longest start of his career. It was also tied for the longest start by a San Jose pitcher this season (Melvin Adon - May 1 vs. Visalia).
* Miller is 6-for-13 in the series.
* Visalia relievers Wei-Cheih Huang (3 IP), Garcia and Eveld combined to throw five scoreless innings of one-hit ball to end the game. The trio struck out nine.
* Panik (left thumb strain) and Hanson (left hamstring strain) were both playing in their first rehab games with San Jose.
* Infielder C.J Hinojosa and pitcher Norwith Gudino joined the Giants from Extended Spring Training before the game on Wednesday. Hinojosa was a California League All-Star during the 2016 season. Infielder Kevin Rivera was placed on the disabled list while pitcher Carlos Sano was transferred to Extended Spring Training.
* 17 games remain in the first half.
On Deck
The Giants and Rawhide conclude their four-game series on Thursday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 7:00 PM. San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is slated to make a rehab start for San Jose while Visalia is expected to counter with Kevin McCanna (3-0, 2.20 ERA). For tickets, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.