Giants Stay Hot With 9–3 Victory Over Grizzlies
The San Jose Giants won for the ninth time in their last 11 games with a 9–3 victory over the Fresno Grizzlies on a sweltering Wednesday afternoon at Excite Ballpark. Every player in the Giants lineup recorded at least one hit as part of a 15-hit offensive attack while San Jose scored six unanswered runs to finish the game en route to the win. The playoff-bound Giants (73–55, 33–29 second half) have now split the first two games of their series with Fresno.
Victor Bericoto (3-for-5, HR, 3 RBI) knocked out three hits, including a tiebreaking solo home run in the bottom of the fifth and a key two-run single in the sixth, to lead the way at the plate. Wade Meckler (3-for-5, 2B, RBI) added three hits while Logan Wyatt (2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI) doubled twice and drove in a pair of runs.
San Jose trailed early on Wednesday as the Grizzlies’ Sterlin Thompson hit a two-run home run in the top of the second inning off of Giants starter Will Kempner for a 2–0 Fresno advantage. The homer was the only hit allowed by Kempner during his two-inning start. The San Jose native, who was making his Excite Ballpark debut as a professional, struck out four.
The Giants immediately got one run back in the bottom of the second as Yorlis Rodriguez walked with one out before P.J. Hilson’s two-out single put runners on first and second. Garrett Frechette followed with a bloop single into shallow right center that brought home Rodriguez with the first San Jose run of the day.
After Hayden Birdsong tossed a scoreless top of the third, the Giants went ahead with two runs in the bottom of the frame. With two outs, Meckler singled and Averson Arteaga drew a walk. Wyatt then smacked a full-count pitch to the fence in deep left center for a double as both Meckler and Arteaga scored giving San Jose a 3–2 lead.
Birdsong then worked another scoreless inning in the top of the fourth before the Grizzlies would push across a single run in the top of the fifth to tie the game. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out for Fresno. Birdsong then fanned Juan Guerrero on a 3–2 pitch for the second out of the inning. After the strikeout, Birdsong was pulled as California League Pitcher of the Week Willian Suarez entered, however a full-count walk to Juan Brito followed to tie the game 3–3. Suarez did bounce back to induce the next hitter, Thompson, to ground out ending the inning.
The Giants then wasted no time reclaiming the lead as Bericoto led off the bottom of the fifth with a towering 424-foot home run to deep left center. The homer was Bericoto’s 12th of the season and it put San Jose in front by a 4–3 margin.
After Suarez breezed through a 1–2–3 top of the sixth, the Giants kept the pressure on with three more runs in the bottom of the inning. A leadoff single from Diego Velasquez and a one-out walk to Frechette put runners on first and second. Rayner Santana then lofted a fly ball down the left field line that dropped in for a single. The hit scored Velasquez with the first run of the inning while Frechette advanced to third and Santana to second on the throw home. Bericoto was up next and he singled sharply up the middle bringing home both runners for a 7–3 advantage.
Suarez tossed another scoreless inning in the top of the seventh before Jose Cruz struck out two in a perfect top of the eighth. San Jose then scored their final two runs of the afternoon in the bottom of the eighth inning. With two outs and no one on base, Bericoto singled before Meckler laced an RBI double into the right field corner to make it 8–3.
Arteaga followed with a single off the glove of shortstop Adael Amador to score Meckler for a 9–3 cushion.
Cruz then sealed the victory with a scoreless top of the ninth inducing a game-ending 4–6–3 double play.
GIANTS NOTES
Inside The Box Score: The Giants out-hit the Grizzlies 15–6. San Jose was 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position compared to only 1-for-9 for Fresno. Garrett Frechette (2-for-3, 2B, RBI) also finished with a multi-hit game for the Giants.
Hitting Streak Extended: Aeverson Arteaga (1-for-3, RBI) extended his hitting streak to 12 games with his eighth-inning single. It’s the second-longest hit streak by a Giants player this season (Carter Williams, 17 games). Arteaga also collected his team-leading 80th RBI of the season.
Bullpen Excels: The bullpen trio of Hayden Birdsong (2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 SO), Willian Suarez (2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB) and Jose Cruz (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO) combined to pitch seven innings with only one run allowed.
Home Run Watch: Victor Bericoto’s long ball was the Giants’ 145th home run of the season. San Jose needs six homers over the final four games to set a new team record for homers (2021 team holds record with 150 HR).
Winning Ways: The Giants are a season-high tying 18 games over .500.
On Deck: The Giants and Grizzlies play the third game of their six-game series on Thursday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 6:30 PM.
