Ports Use Longball To Take Down Giants
Box Score STOCKTON, Ca. - The Ports hit three home runs and did all of their scoring in the first two innings in a 7-4 win over the San Jose Giants on Wednesday night at Banner Island Ballpark to even the two teams' six-game series at one win a piece.
STOCKTON, Ca. - The Ports hit three home runs and did all of their scoring in the first two innings in a 7-4 win over the San Jose Giants on Wednesday night at Banner Island Ballpark to even the two teams' six-game series at one win a piece.
The Ports answered a San Jose run in the top of the first with back-to-back home runs off of Giants starter Carson Ragsdale in the bottom half. With one out and Brayan Buelvas on first base after being hit by a pitch, Junior Perez clubbed his first home run of the year, a two-run shot to straight-away center field to give the Ports a 2-1 lead. The next hitter was Lawrence Butler, who hit a high, towering fly ball to left for an opposite field home run to make it 3-1.
Stockton then added four more in the second. Facing Giants reliever Kanoa Pagan, Buelvas walked with one out and Tyler Soderstrom followed with a double to right center to score Buelvas and give the Ports a 4-1 lead. Then with two outs and two Ports on base after a walk to Lawrence Butler, catcher José Rivas blew it open with a three-run blast to left field to give Stockton a 7-1 advantage.
The Giants scored single runs in the first and third on an RBI single by Ricardo Genoves and a solo home run by Marco Luciano off of Ports starter Jose Dicochea. The Stockton right-hander gave up two runs (both earned) in 3 1/3 innings pitched with two walks and four strikeouts.
Daniel Martinez (1-0) got the win for Stockton, giving up two unearned runs on two hits with three strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings of relief. Brock Whittlesey pitched the final two innings to lock down his first save of the season.
Giants starter Carson Ragsdale (0-1) took the loss, giving up three runs (all earned) on two hits in just two-thirds of an inning. He walked two and struck out two.
The Ports will try to take the upper-hand in the series on Thursday night when they send right-hander Jack Cushing to the mound against Giants lefty Nick Swiney. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm and can be heard live on Fox Sports AM 1280.