Eight is great: San Jose Giants capture California League title for eighth time in franchise history

Once they finally snapped their playoff losing streak, there was no stopping the San Jose Giants.

The Giants completed an undefeated run to the the Single-A California League championship on Tuesday night with a 4-2 win over the Inland Empire 66ers in San Bernardino. The title caps a dominating season that saw the squad sweep both of its playoff series after winning a league-leading 81 regular season games.

It is San Jose’s eighth Cal League title since becoming San Francisco’s affiliate in 1988, and the first since 2021. The Giants had reached the playoffs each of the previous three seasons after winning title No. 7, but were swept in the best-of-three opening series each time.

After rolling through the regular season, including a 21-5 run to cap the first half title to guarantee another trip to the postseason, the Giants finally broke through in the playoffs with a 2-0 win at Fresno in Game 1 of their Division Series. They completed the sweep of the Grizzlies with a 7-6 win at Excite Ballpark, then moved to the brink of the title with a 7-3 home win over the 66ers on Sunday.

Tuesday, the Giants trailed for more than a half inning for the first time in the playoffs, facing deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 before pulling away for good with a three-run rally in the top of the sixth.

Lorenzo Meola, Trevor Cohen and Lisbel Diaz drew successive walks to load the bases. Diego Cartaya, who three years ago was the Dodgers’ minor league player of the year, followed with a tying single, and Cohen scored the go-ahead run on another walk.

Hunter Dryden picked up the win with 4 ⅔ innings of shutout relief, and Cade Vernon came on to record the final out of the game for his third save of the postseason.

Ydwin Villegas, in his second season with the Giants, becomes the franchise’s fifth manager to win a Cal League title, joining Lenn Sakata (four times), Shane Turner, Andy Skeels and Brian Harper.