STOCKTON, Calif. – Game one of the North Division Series of the 2026 Cal League Playoffs went sideways quickly for the Ports on Tuesday night, as they fell to the Giants 10-5 to give San Jose a 1-0 lead in the three-game series.
A San Jose club that set a franchise record for home runs in a season with 151 flexed their muscle early in game one. A leadoff walk for top prospect Josuar Gonzalez to start the game was followed by a two-run blast 377 feet by Lorenzo Meola off the roof of the Black Oak Casino Back Porch for a 2-0 Giants lead.
Jeremiah Jenkins singled through the left side to start the second inning before Andy Polanco launched a 430-foot shot to left center for a 4-0 advantage. Before tonight’s game, Polanco’s only home run was an inside-the-park homer in Stockton on July 17. But he would crush another one over the bullpens to start the fourth, this time a 401-foot solo shot to put San Jose up 5-0. Another two-run homer in the fifth, this time for Drew Smith, that barely stayed fair down the right field line put the Giants ahead 7-0.
The Ports finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Max Durrington hit a big fly 378 feet off the roof of the Black Oak Casino Back Porch as well to make it a 7-1 game. Each team scored a run in the sixth, with a sac fly providing an eighth run for San Jose and an Alex Sosa double bringing the score back to 8-2.
An error in center when Drew Burress didn’t scoop a ball rolling to him that got all the way to the wall allowed two more runs to score and give San Jose a 10-2 lead. Stockton got two back in the seventh on a Michael Brooks sac fly and a Burress RBI single, and they got one more in the ninth on Roman Martin’s first professional home run for the 10-5 final.
UP NEXT: Game two will take place on Thursday at Excite Ballpark in San Jose, with a scheduled 6:35 PM first pitch. First round pick Jackson Flora (0-0, 0.00) is scheduled to make his second professional start for San Jose and a resurgent Donny Troconis (2-6, 6.21) will take the mound for Stockton.