The San José Giants dropped the first game of their six game series against the Fresno Grizzlies 13-11 on Tuesday night at Excite Ballpark. 

The Giants dominated for a majority of the game, scoring at least 2 runs in four straight innings, which helped them jump out to a 6-run lead over Fresno. 

After going into the ninth down 10-4, the Grizzlies proceeded to score 6 unanswered runs, followed up by 3 runs in the 10th inning.  

Giants second baseman, Isaiah Barkett, said the team prioritized keeping momentum throughout the game. 

““You never know what happens in the game, you gotta play till the last out,” Barkett said. 

In the third inning, Cam Maldonado hit a triple on a line drive to center field, bringing in Jhonny Level to score the first run of the game.

Hayden Jatczak followed it up with a single to right field, allowing Maldonado to score and giving the Giants a 2-0 lead. 

The fourth inning started with a line drive single by Tanner Thach, bringing home Roldy Brito and bringing in the Grizzlies first run of the game.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Giants managed to score 3 consecutive runs, giving the team a 5-1 lead. 

Barkett said the approach for the Giants was to keep moving players around the bases.

“(We want to) string it together and try to pick the next guy up,” Barkett said. 

Dario Reynoso had the only home run of the game in the bottom of the fifth, which was met by massive cheers and whistles from the crowd, stretching the Giants lead to 7-1.

The Grizzlies began digging into the Giants lead in the top of the sixth when Giants pitcher Alix Hernandez balked in a run.

In the top of the sixth, Thach scored on a sacrifice fly from Jack O’Dowd  to make the score 7-4. 

The Giants responded with Jatczak scoring on Lorenzo Meola’s line drive single, putting San José up 9-4.

San José continued to bring in runs in the bottom of the seventh inning with Reynoso scoring off a wild pitch, sliding in ahead of the tag and giving the Giants a 10-4 advantage.

The Grizzlies came out strong in the ninth inning, with a double from Carlos Renzullo, driving in Kyle Fossum and Clayton Gray. This made it a 10-6 game.

The Grizzlies continued to inch toward the Giants lead as Ethan Smith Holliday doubled, driving in Brito and Cameron Nelson. Two batters later, Holliday scored on a double by O’Dowd, tying the game at 10-10.

Giants Catcher Junior Barajas was able to finally end the ninth by tagging out O’Dowd at home, ending the Grizzlies offensive onslaught.

In the top of the 10th inning, Derek Bernard scored off a double from Renzullo, giving the Grizzlies their first lead of the game.

The Grizzlies continued to add to their lead, with hits from Nelson and Brito. This drove in two more runs and gave the Grizzlies a 13-10 lead over the Giants in the top of the 10th. 

The Giants were able to bring home one run in the bottom of the tenth before Fresno snuffed out their rally to close out the game. 

Barkett said regardless of the loss the team met expectations.

“We’re always trying to score as much runs as possible,” Barkett said. “Our goal is 10 runs a game.”

Wednesday night, in the second game of the series, the Giants defeated Fresno 12-2 and tied the series at one game a piece.

The Giants are scheduled to face off against the Grizzlies with four more games over the next four days at Excite Ballpark.