Giants Sweep Blaze, Win 10th Game In A Row

BAKERSFIELD - The San Jose Giants completed a four-game sweep of Bakersfield and won their 10th game in a row overall with a 5-2 victory over the Blaze on Monday evening at Sam Lynn Ballpark. The win gave the Giants a perfect 7-0 record on their final road trip of the regular season while also marking their third straight series sweep. 

Adalberto Mejia (6-4) allowed just two runs over a season-high 6 2/3 innings to pick-up the win. Mejia walked one and struck out six during his stint on the mound. Derek Law earned his 11th save in 11 chances with a scoreless bottom of the ninth.

All nine San Jose players in the lineup recorded at least one hit with California League Offensive Player of the Week Mac Williamson (3-for-4, 2B, SB) leading the charge. Myles Schroder (2-for-5, 2B), Devin Harris (2-for-4, RBI) and Chris Lofton (2-for-4, RBI) added two hits apiece.

The Giants jumped on Blaze starter Shaun Ellis early starting the game with five consecutive hits en route to a three-run top of the first inning. Schroder began the contest with a double down the right field line before immediately scoring when the next batter, Brock Bond, lined a single to right. Williamson followed with another single and then Harris lined a single into left center to plate Bond with the second run of the frame. On Harris' hit, Bakersfield left fielder Kyle Waldrop mishandled the ball for an error allowing the runners to advance to second and third. Trevor Brown then produced the fifth straight hit with a line drive single up the middle. The hit scored Williamson for a 3-0 lead, however Harris was thrown out at the plate on the play by Blaze center fielder Juan Silva for the first out of the inning.

Bakersfield got one run back in the bottom of the first as Juan Silverio clubbed a two-out, solo homer to left center. The home run, Silverio's 17th of the year, trimmed the San Jose lead to 3-1.

Mejia then worked around a one-out single in the second and a two-out single in the bottom of the third to maintain the 3-1 advantage. In the fourth, Silverio led off with a single, but Mejia recorded three consecutive strikeouts to end the inning.

The Blaze closed to within 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth as David Vidal led off with a double, advanced to third on a Juan Perez sacrifice bunt and scored when the next batter, Yovan Gonzalez, grounded out. Bakersfield though wouldn't catch the Giants as Mejia stranded two more runners in the sixth inning.

San Jose then plated a run in the top of the seventh when Jeff Arnold singled to lead off, took second on a passed ball, was moved to third when Bobby Haney dropped down a sacrifice bunt and scored on Chris Lofton's single to center.

Mejia returned to the mound in the bottom of the seventh and retired the first two batters before yielding a single to Gonzalez. Jose Casilla was then summoned from the bullpen and he quickly got out of the inning retiring Junior Arias, who represented the potential tying run, on a groundout to first.

The Giants increased their lead to 5-2 in the top of the eighth when Williamson led off with a double and scored three batters on Ryan Cavan's one-out single.

Casilla (1 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) then pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth before Law (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO) worked around a two-out single in the ninth to close out the victory.

Ellis (0-1) suffered the loss after surrendering three runs (two earned) on seven hits over six innings. He walked none and struck out three. Ellis allowed only two singles and no runs after the first inning.

Notes: San Jose out-hit Bakersfield 14-8 … The Giants were 7-for-13 with runners in scoring position while the Blaze finished 0-for-4 … Williamson extended his hitting streak to nine games … He's batting .528 (19-for-36) during the streak … San Jose won nine out of ten games in Bakersfield this season … The Giants finish the regular season with a league-best 42-28 road record … San Jose (79-54) maintained their six-game lead over Visalia (73-60) for the top overall record in the North Division (homefield advantage throughout playoffs) with seven games remaining in the regular season.

On Deck: The Giants begin their final homestand of regular season Tuesday evening with the first of three straight games against the Visalia Rawhide. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Clayton Blackburn (7-5, 3.83 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Visalia is expected to counter with Keith Hessler (8-6, 5.98 ERA). Tickets can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com.