Ports Fall to Giants in Seesaw Battle

Box Score

STOCKTON, Ca. - The San Jose Giants scored four times in the top of the 9th to beat the Ports 9-8 in a back-and-forth contest in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Banner Island Ballpark.

The Giants' (24-12) comeback came after Stockton scored twice in the bottom of the seventh and four times in the eighth to overcome a three-run deficit and take an 8-5 lead. Trailing 5-2 going into the seventh, the Ports loaded the bases with one out, and after a strikeout, Joshwan Wright drove in two runs with a single to center field to cut the San Jose lead to 5-4.

Leading off the eighth, Brayan Buelvas ignited the crowd of 1,110 with a leadoff home run to left-center to tie the game at five. Tyler Soderstrom then followed with a walk and Lawrence Butler with a single, and advanced to second and third with one out after a sacrifice bunt by Danny Bautista. With the Giants' infield drawn in, Kevin Richards grounded a single up the middle to give the Ports a 7-5 lead.

A Jose Rivas single then put runners on the corners, and Sahid Valenzuela dropped a safety squeeze up the first base line to bring Richards home and give the Ports an 8-5 lead.

The Giants, though, took the lead with four runs in the top of the ninth. Alex Canario led off the inning with a solo home run to right-center off of Kumar Nambiar, and with two outs and runners on first and second Luis Toribio lined a double to the right-center field gap to score two runs and tie the game at eight. After a hit by pitch and a walk loaded the bases, Casey Schmitt drew a walk against Jose Mora to put the Giants up 9-8.

Clay Helvey retired the Ports (13-23) 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to end the ballgame.

Buelvas went 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored, and Butler picked up two hits, including a triple, and scored two runs.

Tovar (0-1) took the loss for Stockton allowing one run in 1/3 of an inning, and Helvey (2-1) got the win for San Jose.

The Ports will embark on a 12-game road trip starting on Tuesday with the opener of a six-game series in Fresno against the Grizzlies, followed by a six-game set in San Bernardino against the 66ers beginning on June 22.

When the Ports return home on June 29th, Banner Island Ballpark will be back to full capacity! Single game tickets for the rest of the season go on sale June 15. Get your tickets at stocktonports.com or by calling the Ports front office at (209) 644-1900.