Sweep Bid Falls Short With 3-2 Loss

SAN JOSE, CA - San Jose's bid for a four-game sweep of Visalia fell short on Monday afternoon as the Rawhide earned a 3-2 victory over the Giants at Municipal Stadium. Visalia scored three times in the top of the fourth to erase an early two-run deficit before holding off San Jose to secure the win. Despite the loss, the Giants (44-52 overall, 10-16 second half) still took three out of four games from the Rawhide - their first series win of the second half.
Brandon Van Horn (2-for-3, HR, RBI) knocked out two hits, including his ninth home run of the season, to lead San Jose offensively in defeat. Johneshwy Fargas (2-for-4) and Jacob Heyward (2-for-4, 2B) also produced multi-hit games at the plate for the Giants.
San Jose jumped out early with a single run in the bottom of the first against Rawhide starter Connor Grey. With one out, Wander Franco singled before Heyward clubbed a double into the left field corner to put runners on second and third. Dillon Dobson was up next and his groundout to first brought home Franco giving the Giants a 1-0 lead.
San Jose stretched their advantage to 2-0 when Van Horn led off the bottom of the third with a home run to deep left center.
Meanwhile, Carlos Sano started on the mound for the Giants and began his day with three scoreless innings. Sano had retired seven straight Visalia batters until issuing a leadoff walk to Marcus Wilson in the top of the fourth. Stephen Smith then hit a grounder to third that was misplayed by Dobson for an error. After Pavin Smith popped out, Renae Martinez bounced a single through the hole on the left side. The hit scored Wilson with the first Rawhide run of the afternoon. Smith also advanced to third while Martinez took second when Heyward's throw home from shallow left sailed away for another error. Jason Morozowski followed for Visalia with a sacrifice fly as Smith scored to tie the game 2-2. Martinez also moved to third on the play before eventually scoring the go-ahead run when Sano uncorked a wild pitch. The Rawhide managed just one hit in the top of the fourth, but plated three runs in the frame to take a 3-2 lead.
San Jose would then muster only one hit over the final six innings of the contest. Grey finished his start with three straight 1-2-3 innings over the fourth, fifth and sixth frames. In the bottom of the seventh, Visalia reliever Tyler Mark issued a two-out walk to Kelvin Beltre, but came back to strikeout Matt Winn to retire the side. In the eighth, with the score still at 3-2, Van Horn led off with a single to left putting the potential tying run on base. Fargas though struck out on a bunt attempt, Franco bounced into a force out and Heyward popped out to quickly end the inning. Rawhide closer Tommy Eveld then needed only five pitches to work a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to finish the game.
Grey (7-6) earned the win after limiting the Giants to two runs (both earned) over six innings of work. The right-hander struck out four, walked none and retired the final 10 batters he faced. Eveld collected his 11th save of the season.
Sano (1-2) was saddled with the loss for the Giants after yielding three runs (one earned) in five innings. Sano surrendered just two hits, walked four and matched a season-high with six strikeouts.
Notes
* The Giants were bidding for their first series sweep of 2018. San Jose last swept a series from July 31-August 2, 2017 (vs. Visalia).
* The Rawhide won on Monday despite getting out-hit by a 7-4 margin.
* Van Horn's nine home runs are third on the Giants.
* San Jose committed three errors after just two errors combined in the first three games of the series.
* Sano has a 0.84 ERA (2 ER/21.1 IP) over his last five appearances (three starts).
* Sandro Cabrera (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO), Ryan Walker (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) and Nolan Riggs (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) combined to throw four scoreless innings of relief for the Giants.
* San Jose fell to 12-11 against Visalia this season (9-6 at Municipal Stadium).
* Monday was the Giants' league-leading 33rd one-run game of the year (15-18 record).
On Deck
Following an off day, the Giants embark on a six-game Southern California road trip to Rancho Cucamonga (three games) and Lake Elsinore (three games). Wednesday's series opener against the Quakes at LoanMart Field is a 7:05 PM first pitch. DJ Myers (3-3, 5.54 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Rancho Cucamonga is expected to counter with Dustin May (5-3, 3.09 ERA). The game can be heard live on sjgiants.com with coverage beginning at 6:45 PM.