Giants Drop 12-10 Slugfest In Regular Season Finale
September 12, 2022 – California League (CalL) – San Jose Giants News Release
The San Jose Giants closed out the regular season with a 12-10 loss to the Fresno Grizzlies on Sunday evening at Excite Ballpark. Fresno scored eight runs in the top of the first inning to take a sizable early lead and withstood San Jose’s furious comeback effort to secure the victory. The playoff-bound Giants finish the regular season with a 74-58 overall record.
San Jose opens the postseason on Tuesday night at Excite Ballpark with Game 1 of the best-of-three North Division Series against Fresno. The Grizzlies host Games 2 and 3 of the series on Thursday and Friday respectively.
Wade Meckler (3-for-4, 3 RBI) had three hits while Aeverson Arteaga (1-for-5, HR, 3 RBI) smacked a three-run home run to lead the Giants offensively in defeat. Arteaga finished the regular season on a 15-game hitting streak.
Fresno sent 12 batters to the plate in the top of the first scoring eight times to knock San Jose starter Mikell Manzano out of the game. Adael Amador led off the game with a home run for the Grizzlies – his 15th round-tripper of the season. Three batters later, Jordan Beck produced an RBI double before a bases loaded walk to A.J. Lewis forced home the third run of the inning. A wild pitch uncorked by Manzano with the bases loaded plated another run for Fresno to make it 4-0. The onslaught continued with Bryant Quijada’s two-run double for a 6-0 Grizzlies advantage. Amador then drove home another run with an RBI single before Benny Montgomery’s run-scoring double stretched the Fresno lead to 8-0.
Another Grizzlies run in the top of the second on an E.J. Andrews Jr. RBI single made it 9-0 before San Jose would begin their comeback charge. A bases loaded RBI single from Meckler in the bottom of the second got the Giants on the board before a throwing error on the Fresno catcher Quijada brought home another run. Moments later, Arteaga connected for a three-run home run to deep left center – his 14th long ball of the season – to bring San Jose within 9-5.
Fresno would immediately get two runs back, however, in the top of the third on another Montgomery RBI double before an RBI groundout made it an 11-5 margin. The wild start to the game continued then with three more Giants runs in the bottom of the inning. Anyesber Sivira knocked in the first run of the frame with a single while Meckler’s two-RBI single to left brought the score to 11-8 after only three innings.
The game would calm from there with Fresno’s final run coming in the top of the fifth on a wild pitch as the Grizzlies lead grew to 12-8.
The Giants closed to within 12-10 in the bottom of the seventh as Zach Morgan produced an RBI double before a wild pitch with a runner at third scored another run. San Jose though was unable to complete the comeback as the Fresno bullpen pitched around a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth and a leadoff single in the ninth to finish the game.
Manzano, who was making his first start in the California League and only his second overall appearance with the Giants, suffered the loss after yielding seven runs (all earned) in 2/3 of an inning to begin the game. The teams combined to use 15 pitchers – eight by San Jose and seven by Fresno.
With 10 strikeouts on Sunday, the Giants pitching staff set a new team record for strikeouts in a single season. San Jose finished the regular season with 1,443 strikeouts, surpassing the previous mark of 1,439 set by the 2021 team. The Giants also end the regular season with a league-best 4.11 ERA.
For more information on tickets for San Jose’s home playoff game on Tuesday, visit sjgiants.com.
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