VISALIA - The Visalia Rawhide scored twice in the bottom of the seventh inning to take the lead and then exploded for five runs in the eighth en route to a 10-4 victory over the San Jose Giants on Thursday evening at Recreation Park. Brendan Duffy was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate and James Skelton collected three RBI’s to lead a 14-hit Rawhide offensive attack as Visalia salvaged the final game of the series. The loss snaps San Jose’s five-game win streak and drops the Giants’ second half record to 37-16.

Oliver Odle (7-10) suffered the loss on the mound for San Jose despite his second-longest start of the year. Odle worked 6 1/3 innings and surrendered five runs (three earned) on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts. The tying and go-ahead runs both scored in the bottom of the seventh inning after Odle departed the game.

With the Giants ahead by a 4-3 margin, Odle walked David Cooper to begin the bottom of the seventh and then after a sacrifice bunt from Ollie Linton, Taylor Harbin drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Ryan Shaver was then summoned from the bullpen and he allowed a ground ball single into right field off the bat of Skelton to plate Cooper with the tying run as Harbin advanced all the way to third. Konrad Schmidt was up next and he grounded out weakly back to Shaver for the second out of the inning. However on the play, as soon as Shaver released the ball on his throw to first, Harbin broke for the plate and was able to score the go-ahead run ahead of David Maroul’s throw from first.

San Jose threatened in the top of the eighth as Brian Bocock drew a leadoff walk and Shane Jordan walked with one out to put the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base. But reliever Jorge Perez induced Darren Ford to ground into a fielder’s choice before Nick Noonan bounced out to third ending the inning.

Visalia broke the game open in the bottom of the eighth sending all nine batters to the plate and scoring five runs on four hits. Mike Musgrave (0 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO) entered the game to begin the frame and was unable to retire any of the four hitters that he faced. A double from Ed Easley started the inning before Kyle Greene drew a walk. After the runners advanced on a Nestor Rojas passed ball, Duffy delivered an RBI single to make it 6-4. Musgrave then walked Cooper to load the bases forcing another pitching change as David Mixon was brought in from the bullpen. Mixon struck out Linton, but then walked Harbin to force home the second run of the inning. Skelton then lined a single up the middle to score two more runs before Schmidt came through with an RBI single to extend the Rawhide lead to 10-4.

Ford (2-for-4, SB), Rojas (2-for-5, 2B) and Conor Gillaspie (2-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI) each produced multi-hit games at the plate to lead the Giants. San Jose though mustered just three hits in 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 on the basepaths overall.

The Giants initially took a 3-0 lead scoring once in the second inning and twice in the top of the fourth. Gillaspie led off the second with a double before eventually scoring on Shane Jordan’s two-out single. Then in the fourth, Kieschnick was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Rojas then singled before both runners scored when Gillaspie hammered a double off the fence in center field.

Odle was able to work around five baserunners in the first three innings to keep Visalia off the scoreboard, but the Rawhide finally got to the San Jose starter in the bottom of the fourth. After two quick outs, Easley reached on a fielding error committed by Maroul and then Greene drove an RBI double to the fence in straightaway center field. Duffy then followed with an RBI double of his own to bring Visalia to within 3-2.

The Rawhide tied the score in the sixth as Ryne White singled with one out and scored on Greene’s two-out double into the right center field gap. Duffy then singled into left, however Greene was easily thrown out at the plate by Neal to end the inning and keep the score tied.

The Giants briefly went back in front in the top of the seventh inning as Ford led off with a single, advanced to second on Noonan’s sacrifice bunt, stole third and came home when Neal grounded a single up the middle. Kieschnick followed with a double down the right field line to put runners on second and third, but San Jose was unable to add to their lead when Rojas and Gillaspie both grounded out to the end the inning.

Notes: The Giants still won two out of three games in the series … The loss snapped San Jose’s nine-game win streak at Recreation Park … The Giants posted a 12-5 record in Visalia this season … Musgrave has allowed 10 runs in his last 2/3 of an inning spanning three relief appearances … Eight out of the nine San Jose starters recorded at least one hit … The Rawhide out-hit the Giants by a 14-11 margin … Kieschnick (1-for-3, 2B) extended his hitting streak to 11 games with his seventh-inning double … San Jose maintained a seven-game lead over the Stockton Ports (30-23) for the top spot in the second half North Division race … 17 games remain in the regular season.

On Deck: The Giants continue their road trip on Friday evening with the opener of a three-game series against the Stockton Ports at Banner Island Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM. Clayton Tanner (9-6, 3.21 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Stockton is expected to counter with Anthony Capra (2-0, 2.17 ERA). The game will be televised live on Comcast Hometown Network, Channel 104 throughout most Northern California regions.

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