Comeback Comes Up Just Short as Giants Take Series Finale

STOCKTON, Calif. — A big sixth inning for the Ports trimmed a six-run Giants lead down to one on Saturday night, but San Jose held on for an 8-6 win to take the series.

Kyle Muller was on a rehab assignment from the Athletics in the series finale, and the big piece of the Sean Murphy trade knocked off the rust in a 61-pitch outing. He allowed a seeing-eye single against the Ports shift at second base and a broken-bat blooper into center to plate a pair of runs in the second inning. He did walk two batters and uncork two wild pitches to go along with three strikeouts on the night.

Nate Nankil got the Ports on the board on the first pitch of the bottom of the second, blasting a solo home run (8) 383 feet out to left field for his first of three hits on the night to make it 2-1. Reliever Drew Conover would struggle with his command again, however, walking four batters to one strikeout as well a hit by pitch. Along with the free passes, he allowed an RBI single to Jean Carlos Sio who had four hits and a walk on the evening, and a three-run home (2) to Lisbel Diaz in a five-run inning for the Giants to put them up 7-1.

Stockton would begin their comeback in the fifth, when they got a run on a sac fly from Ryan Lasko to score Elvis Rijo to make it 7-2. The Ports would send nine batters to the plate in the sixth to make it a one-run game. Nankil singled to lead off the inning, followed by a Dereck Salom walk and a single for Carlos Amaya to load the bases with no one out.

Darlyn Montero legged out an infield single to score Nankil, and Rijo was hit by a pitch to plate Salom to make it 7-4. Bjay Cooke drew a bases-loaded walk to push across another run to cut it to 7-5, before Montero was thrown out at the plate on a ground ball to first off the bat of Lasko to record the first out of the inning and prevent a run from scoring. But Clark Elliott lifted a ball to left for a sacrifice fly to score another run for a 7-6 game, before Schofield-Sam struck out to end the rally.

While Tom Reisinger did well to keep the Giants off the board in his three innings of work, San Jose did not allow another hit the rest of the way to prevent Stockton from scoring again. The Giants would small ball their way to a run in the top of the ninth. A tough-luck infield single off Micah Dallas after a lead-off walk put the first two runners on. A Sio sac bunt and a Diaz sac fly would get San Jose an insurance run for their 8-6 win.

The Giants and Ports are now even at 9-9 for the season series. Nankil extended his hit streak to 11 games, while Lasko’s on-base streak now sits at 14 games and his RBI streak is up to four games.

UP NEXT
The Ports will host the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes for their only visit to Stockton this season from Tuesday, June 9 to Sunday, June 14. Fan can enjoy two tacos for $8 or two tacos and a margarita for $15 every Tuesday at Banner Island Ballpark.

Single game tickets, mini plans, and group outings are all on sale for the 2024 season. For more information, call the Ports front office at 209-644-1900 or email at [email protected].