Giants Shutout Storm, Extend Win Streak To Four

SAN JOSE, CA - The Giants posted their league-leading fourth shutout of the season with a 2-0 victory over the Lake Elsinore Storm on Monday evening at Municipal Stadium. San Jose hurlers Mac Marshall, Sandro Cabrera and Dylan Rheault combined on the shutout as the Giants (12-7) extended their winning streak to a season-high tying four games.
Cabrera (3-0) was credited with the win after tossing 4 2/3 scoreless innings of long relief. Cabrera, who entered the game to begin the top of the fourth, worked around four hits and three walks while collecting seven strikeouts. Dylan Rheault recorded the final four outs of the contest for his first save of the year.
San Jose managed only three hits on Monday plating single runs in the second and eighth innings on their way to victory. In the bottom of the second, the Giants scored a run against Storm starting pitcher Michel Baez without the benefit of a hit. Gio Brusa led off the frame by drawing a walk. Sandro Fabian then hit a grounder to third that was handled by Hudson Potts, but his throw to second was dropped by Eguy Rosario for an error as Brusa slid in safely. A wild pitch then advanced the runners to second and third before a one-out walk to Matt Winn loaded the bases. Frandy De La Rosa was up next and he grounded out weakly to first with Brusa scoring on the play to make it 1-0.
The game then remained at 1-0 all the way until the bottom of the eighth. Winn led off the second run-scoring rally with a single before he moved to second on a De La Rosa sacrifice bunt. Bryce Johnson then walked before a balk advanced the runners to second and third. Moments later, Jalen Miller hit a sacrifice fly to center plating Winn for a 2-0 advantage.
Lake Elsinore knocked out eight hits in the game, but were unable to score against Giants pitching. Mac Marshall started on the mound for San Jose and worked three shutout innings with three hits allowed, no walks and three strikeouts. Marshall pitched through a leadoff single in the top of the second and a pair of singles in the third inning.
With Cabrera on the mound, the Storm threatened in the top of the fourth as Luis Torrens walked with one out. Then with Brad Zunica at the plate, a Cabrera wild pitch advanced Torrens to second. Torrens though attempted to take two bases on the play and was thrown out at third by the catcher Winn for the second out of the inning. Cabrera then struck out Zunica to end the inning.
In the fifth, Rosario singled with one out and Kelvin Melean walked, but Cabrera came back to strikeout Nate Easley before setting down Edward Olivares on a fly out. Still down by a run, Lake Elsinore put the potential tying run in scoring position in the seventh, but again came away empty-handed. Jorge Oña singled with one out and was awarded second on a balk. With two down, Melean walked, but Cabrera recovered to retire Easley on a fly out to right.
In the top of the eighth, Olivares led off with a double to again put the tying run in scoring position, but the Storm were unable to advance him any further. Cabrera registered back-to-back strikeouts of Buddy Reed and Potts before Rheault entered from the bullpen and took care of Torrens on a fly out to center.
After the Giants extended their lead in the bottom of the eighth, Rheault returned to the mound in the ninth and completed the shutout. Zunica led off with a single down the left field line before Ona struck out and Rosario grounded into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.
Baez (0-1) suffered the loss in his 2018 season debut despite not allowing a hit over five innings. The Lake Elsinore right-hander surrendered one unearned run, walked two and struck out two.
Notes
* The Giants improved to a league-best 7-2 at home this season.
* Monday was the first of 12 meetings this year between San Jose and Lake Elsinore.
* Marshall has pitched nine scoreless innings over three starts this season.
* Cabrera is tied for the California League lead with three wins. He owns a 1.59 ERA (3 ER/17.0 IP) in four appearances (one start).
* Wander Franco's (0-for-3) hit streak was snapped at seven games.
* Monday was Rheault's first save opportunity of the year. He led the California League with 21 saves last season.
* Baez is ranked the #3 prospect in the Padres organization according to MLB.com.
* The Giants (12-7) moved a half-game ahead of idle Visalia for first place in the North Division standings. San Jose is also five games above .500 for the first time since July 2016.
On Deck
The Giants and Storm continue their three-game series on Tuesday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 6:30 PM. Raffi Vizcaino (1-1, 3.27 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Lake Elsinore is expected to counter with Reggie Lawson (1-0, 1.20 ERA). It's a Taste of Muni Tuesday at the ballpark and tickets can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com.