San Jose Giants Leave Large Footprints On Visalia Oaks who Lose 7-4 - Adv A, California League

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - Taylor Wilding retired the final five Visalia Oaks hitters, including pitching out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth inning, to save a 7-4 San Jose Giants victory on Thursday night at Recreation Park.

In the opener of a four-game series, San Jose jumped out to a 7-1 lead after 4 ½ innings, but needed Wilding’s clutch performance in the final two frames to claim the win. Offensively, Pablo Sandoval and Brett Pill both smacked home runs as the Giants improved their record to 10-5. Jesse English (2-0) earned the victory on the mound after tossing five effective innings to begin the contest. The left-hander surrendered just one run on four hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

With the Giants leading 7-1, Visalia’s Ed Easley belted a one-out, three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning off San Jose reliever Juan Trinidad. The blast made the score 7-4 and then Brad Miller and Steve Mena followed with consecutive singles to bring the potential tying run to the plate.

Wilding was summoned from the bullpen and he promptly walked Pete Clifford to load the bases. But Wilding recovered to strikeout Manny Ferrer on three pitches before retiring leadoff hitter Pedro Ciriaco on a routine fielder’s choice ground out to shortstop.

In the ninth, Wilding struck out JoJo Batten and Gerardo Parra to start the frame before inducing Ricardo Sosa to ground out to shortstop. Wilding (1 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO) was credited with his second save of the season. Mike McBryde (3-for-4, RBI) led a 13-hit offensive attack for the Giants. Sandoval (2-for-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI), Pill (2-for-4, HR, RBI), and Bobby Felmy (2-for-5, RBI) also finished with multiple-hit games.

San Jose jumped on the scoreboard first with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning. With one out, Felmy singled before Elio Sarmineto singled down the left field line. Felmy advanced to third on the play while Sarmiento moved into second base on the throw back to the infield. Sharlon Schoop followed with a sacrifice fly to right field plating Felmy. Then McBryde reached on an infield single to shortstop scoring Sarmiento with the second run of the frame. Sosa cut the Giants lead in half with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the second inning in what turned out to be Visalia’s only run against English.

In the third, consecutive one-out doubles from Ryan Rohlinger and Sandoval produced another run. Sandoval’s double was a deep fly ball to the warning track in left center field that was lost in the lights by the Oaks center fielder Parra. Pill followed with an infield single to put runners on the corners and then Felmy grounded a single up the middle to score Sandoval for a 4-1 San Jose lead.

Two batters later, Schoop doubled into the left field corner plating Pill with the third run of the inning. Sandoval started the top of the fifth inning with a line drive home run to deep center field. Pill then stepped to the plate and lofted a fly ball over the fence in left center field for back-to-back round-trippers and a 7-1 Giants advantage.

Notes: Thursday marked the first of 27 meetings this season between San Jose and Visalia … Sandoval leads the Giants with a .463 batting average, four home runs, and 13 RBI … Dan Griffin (2 1/3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO) worked scoreless sixth and seventh innings out of the Giants bullpen before he was charged with two runs in the eighth on Easley’s homer … San Jose out-hit the Oaks by a 13-9 margin … Thursday was Visalia’s home-opener after beginning the season with 14 consecutive games on the road … Every Giants starter with the exception of Tyler Graham (0-for-5, 2 SB) recorded at least one hit … Graham now leads the club with six stolen bases … San Jose maintained a one-game lead over the Stockton Ports (9-6) in the North Division.

Subcribe to MLN Sports Zone (SZ) the magazine of Minor League and Alternative Professional Sports for just $5.99! That's 50% off the full subscription price! Use discount code: BMR and SAVE 66% off of the Cover Price!!!