Back-to-Back Homers Lead Ports Past Giants in Series Opener

STOCKTON, Calif. - Jonah Cox and Yeniel Laboy hit back-to-back home runs in a six-run sixth inning and the Stockton Ports rallied past the San Jose Giants 11-5 on Tuesday night at Banner Island Ballpark.

Will Simpson also homered for Stockton, which won the opener of a six-game series and took a 10-9 lead in the season series against San Jose.

Henry Bolte drove in three runs and scored twice, and Carlos Franco added an RBI for the Ports.

San Jose took the early lead on a solo home run by Jack Payton in the second inning. Cole Foster singled home two more in the third, followed by a sacrifice fly from Scott Bandura to make it 4-0.

Bolte got the Ports on the board in the bottom of the third with an RBI groundout.

Turner Hill answered for the Giants with an RBI double in the fourth, but Stockton scored the final 10 runs of the game to win going away.

Laboy had an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth and scored on a throwing error by Foster. Bolte tied the game in the sixth with a two-run single.

Later in the inning, with two runners on base, Cox launched his first home run to give the Ports an 8-5 lead. Laboy made it back-to-back blasts with his second homer of the year.

Simpson smashed his second home run of the season in the seventh and Franco tacked on an RBI single to make it 11-5.

Carlos Guarate (4-4) pitched three scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts to earn the win. Franck De La Rosa handled the final two frames, striking out three.

Julio Rodriguez (3-5) took the loss for San Jose, allowing four runs in two innings.

Oakland A's right-hander Mason Miller will make a rehab start for the Ports Wednesday night in Game 2 of the series against San Jose's Mauricio Estrella. First pitch is at 7:05 with tickets available at stocktonports.com.