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E-mail StorySan Jose completes sweep
Giants pull away from Blaze, which falls to 0-4
| Sunday, Apr 6 2008 10:59 PM
Last Updated: Sunday, Apr 6 2008 11:16 PM
The Bakersfield Blaze is still looking for its first win of the season after the San Jose Giants completed a season opening four-game series sweep with an 8-4 victory over Blaze Sunday afternoon at Sam Lynn Ballpark.
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Bakersfield's Jose Vallejo dives for second as San Jose's Matt Downs waits for the throw. Vallejo was called out on the play..
San Jose (4-0) scored two in the 8th and two in the 9th to break open a one-run game en route to the win. The Giants led 4-0 after three innings, but Bakersfield (0-4) chipped away at the deficit with one run each in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings before allowing the game to slip away.
"I think we're pressing a little bit trying to get that first "W" and the longer we go without it the more guys are getting a little tense, getting frustrated, said Blaze manager Damon Berryhill. "They've got to realize it's a long haul..."
San Jose catcher Pablo Sandoval went 3-for-3 with a single and a pair of solo home runs, one from each side of the plate. The switch hitters second blast, an opposite field blast over the leftfield wall with two outs in the 8th extended the Giants lead to 5-3.
The Giants jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Sandoval second inning home run after Blaze starter Beau Jones retired the first four batters of the game including three by strikeout.
Jones pitched 32/3 innings allowing four hits and four runs, three of them earned. The left-hander struck out six and walked two.
Jones took the loss despite retiring 11 of the first 12 batters he faced. But after coaxing two ground ball outs to begin the fourth inning he gave up three consecutive singles and a pair of walks on eight straight pitches.
"He got tired a little bit," Berryhill said. "He started elevating the ball and they started putting some good swings on it. They did what they were supposed to do. They got into some deep counts and put the ball in play."
Nineteen-year-old starting pitcher Tim Alderson got the victory for San Jose. The right-hander gave up just three hits and one run in five innings of work. He walked two and struck out one.
Down 4-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Blaze got its only run off of Alderson when Truan Mehl came in to score on a throwing error by Sandoval. Mehl reached base with a single to center and then stole second. Later while trying nab Mehl advancing to third on an Alderson wild pitch Sandoval threw the ball into left field.
Bakersfield added a second run in the sixth as Chad Tracy plated Jose Vallejo from second with a two-out line drive single to left. Vallejo, who finished 2-for-4, hit an opposite field double off the left field wall to get into scoring position.
The Blaze pulled to within a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Julio Borbon. But San Jose put the game out of reach with four runs in the final two innings.