Giants Win Fourth Straight Over Ports
September 4, 2022 – California League (CalL) – San Jose Giants News Release
The San Jose Giants won their fourth straight game over Stockton this week with a 4-2 victory against the Ports on Saturday night at Banner Island Ballpark. Two-out RBI hits and an impressive long relief appearance on the mound from Manuel Mercedes fueled the win as the Giants (71-54, 31-28 second half) claimed their seventh victory in the last eight contests overall.
With San Jose having already guaranteed the second-best overall record in the North Division, the Giants can clinch a playoff spot as soon as Sunday. A Fresno victory over Modesto on Sunday afternoon clinches the second half North Division crown for the Grizzlies, which would lock San Jose into the wild card. Fresno is seven games ahead of Modesto in the second half race with seven games remaining in the regular season.
On Saturday, the Giants jumped out early with a run in the top of the first. It marked the fourth straight game in which San Jose scored in the first inning. A one-out walk to Aeverson Arteaga followed by a single from Logan Wyatt put runners on first and second for the Giants. Then with two down, Adrian Sugastey delivered an RBI single as Arteaga scored for a 1-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Liam Simon got the ball for San Jose – the third straight day a 2022 draftee made his California League debut on the mound in a starting role. Simon tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings in his outing with only two hits allowed. The right-hander, who was selected in the fifth round earlier this summer, walked none and struck out four. Simon fanned two in a perfect bottom of the first before pitching around a two-out single in the second. He left the game with a runner at second base and two outs in the bottom of the third as Mercedes entered from the bullpen and retired rehabbing Oakland A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano on a groundout to shortstop to end the inning.
The Ports would briefly tie the game with a run in the bottom of the fourth taking advantage of a Giants error. With two outs, Junior Perez worked a walk before Dereck Salom lined a single to right. Perez advanced to third on the hit and then scored the tying run when right fielder Victor Bericoto mishandled the ball for an error. Mercedes though was able to strand Salom in scoring position when he set down Tommy Stevenson on a groundout to retire the side.
San Jose then immediately reclaimed the lead with a two-run top of the fifth. Back-to-back walks to Alexander Suarez and Damon Dues started the inning. Then with Arteaga at the plate, Suarez appeared to get picked-off at second, but after a long rundown, was able to safely make it into third when Stockton third baseman T.J. Schofield-Sam dropped the ball for an error. After Arteaga struck out, Wyatt hit a sacrifice fly to center bringing home Suarez with the go-ahead run. Bericoto was up next and he produced a clutch hit with a two-out RBI single as Dues scored to make it 3-1.
The Ports pulled back within a run in the bottom of the sixth as Daniel Susac and Schofield-Sam knocked out consecutive singles to put runners on the corners with none out before Perez hit a sacrifice fly. The tally trimmed the Giants lead to 3-2, but Mercedes registered a key strikeout of Stevenson with the potential tying run at second base to end the inning.
San Jose then went back ahead by two runs in the top of the seventh as Arteaga singled with one out, moved to second on a Wyatt groundout and scored on Bericoto’s second two-out RBI single of the night as the lead grew to 4-2.
Mercedes finished his stellar pitching performance with back-to-back scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth. In the seventh, Caeden Trenkle singled with two outs, but Laureano’s shallow fly ball to center was caught by a diving P.J. Hilson to end the inning. Then in the bottom of the eighth, Perez drew a two-out walk and stole second, but Salom popped out to second to keep the Giants lead at two runs.
Spencer Bivens then closed it out for San Jose in the bottom of the ninth stranding the potential tying runs in scoring position. A one-out single from Cooper Uhl followed by a walk to Brennan Milone put two runners on base for Stockton. Trenkle’s soft groundout to the right side moved the runners to second and third, but Bivens then struck out Cameron Masterman on a 3-2 pitch to end the game.
GIANTS NOTES
Road Trip Update: The Giants improved to 8-3 on their current road trip (4-2 at Modesto, 4-1 at Stockton). San Jose is a season-high tying 17 games above .500 overall this season.
Inside The Box Score: The Giants out-hit the Ports 9-8. San Jose was 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position compared to 0-for-7 for Stockton. All nine Giants hits were singles.
Hitting Leaders: Victor Bericoto (2-for-4, 2 RBI), Adrian Sugastey (2-for-4, RBI) and Aeverson Arteaga (2-for-4, SB) had multi-hit games for the Giants. Arteaga extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Mercedes Masterful: Manuel Mercedes pitched a season-high 5 1/3 innings on Saturday with only two runs (one earned) allowed. He surrendered five hits, walked two, struck out two and earned the win.
On Deck: The Giants and Ports conclude their series on Sunday evening with first pitch at Banner Island Ballpark set for 6:05 PM. Nick Sinacola is San Jose’s scheduled starting pitcher.
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