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CalL1 San Jose Giants

Giants Suffer 12th Inning Heartbreak In Modesto

May 16, 2009 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


The Modesto Nuts scored a run on an error with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning leading to a dramatic 6-5 victory over the San Jose Giants on Friday night at John Thurman Field. In the opener of a four-game series, Modesto's Jay Cox hit a sharp ground ball to shortstop that bounced under the glove of Brian Bocock for an error to score the winning run from third base. With the loss, San Jose's overall record dropped to 21-14.

The teams combined for 12 pitchers in a game that lasted four hours and 20 minutes. The Giants took a 5-1 lead with three runs in the top of the sixth inning before the Nuts responded with four tallies in the bottom of the frame to draw even. Neither team scored again until Modesto's winning run in the bottom of the 12th.

Trent Kline (3-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI) and Roger Kieschnick (3-for-5) both rapped out three hits to lead the San Jose offensive attack. Conor Gillaspie (2-for-5, 2 RBI) added a pair of hits and two RBI's.

Craig Whitaker (1-1) suffered the loss out of the Giants bullpen after surrendering the unearned run in the bottom of the 12th. Whitaker, who entered the game to begin the 11th, pitched 1 2/3 innings with three hits allowed and one strikeout.

Whitaker quickly retired the first hitter of the bottom of the 12th before Hector Gomez grounded a single into right field. Brian Rike followed with a line drive single up the middle to advance Gomez all the way to third base with Rike moving to second on the throw. Whitaker recovered to set down Jason Van Kooten on a ground out to third base for the second out of the inning before Wilmin Rodriguez was summoned into pitch. Cox was up next and on the 2-2 pitch, he hit a ground ball to shortstop that was misplayed by Bocock for the game-deciding error.

Both clubs had several opportunities in the late innings against the opponent's bullpen, but came away empty-handed. With the score tied in the top of the seventh, Ben Copeland doubled with one out, but was ultimately stranded in scoring position when Thomas Neal grounded out and Kieschnick struck out.

In the ninth, Kline led off with a single against Colorado Rockies relief pitcher Ryan Speier (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO), who was on a rehabilitation assignment. With Kline at second base and two outs, Copeland was intentionally walked and then Neal struck out swinging to end the threat.

In the top of the 11th, consecutive one-out singles from Kline and Bocock put runners on first and second. After Shane Jordan flied out, Copeland drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases. Neal though was retired on a deep fly out in the right field corner to keep the score tied.

The Giants again threatened in the 12th when Kieschnick led off with an infield single before stealing second base with one out. However, Nick Noonan struck out and Gillaspie grounded out to second ending the inning.

Modesto also had several opportunities as they put runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but reliever Daniel Turpen induced Wilin Rosario to fly out to center. In the ninth, Edwin Quirarte yielded a leadoff single to Jeff Cunningham before Charlie Blackmon singled with one out to move the potential winning run to third base. But Quirarte responded with a strikeout of Maikol Gonzalez - the first strikeout for a Giants pitcher in the game - before Gomez flied out to deep center.

Garrett Broshuis made his first start of the season for San Jose and tossed five effective innings with one run and three hits allowed. Broshuis, who began his outing by retiring eight consecutive Modesto hitters, walked one and struck out none.

The Giants initially jumped ahead 1-0 in the top of the second inning when Gillaspie came through with a two-out RBI single. The Nuts tied the score in the bottom of the third on Blackmon's two-out RBI triple before San Jose answered right back in the top of the fourth. Back-to-back singles from Neal and Kieschnick started the frame and then Gillaspie delivered another two-out RBI single to make it a 2-1 contest.

The Giants moved ahead by a 5-1 score in the top of the sixth inning when Kline belted a three-run double into the right field corner. With two outs, Modesto starting pitcher Connor Graham issued a walk to Angel Villalona before Noonan singled. After Gillaspie drew a walk to load the bases, Carlos Luna was brought into pitch out of the bullpen. Kline was up next and the San Jose catcher crushed a 1-2 pitch to the fence in right field to clear the bases.

Adam Cowart (0 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO) relieved Broshuis to begin the bottom of the sixth and did not retire any of the five batters that he faced. Three singles started the inning before a walk to Rike forced home one run. Van Kooten followed with a bloop single into shallow right field to score two more runs and bring the Nuts to within 5-4. Two batters later, Rosario lifted a sacrifice fly to right field against Turpen to tie the score.

Notes: Friday's game marked the longest for the Giants in innings and time this season ... San Jose is 1-1 in extra-inning games ... Turpen (3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO) and Quirarte (2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) combined for five scoreless innings of relief from the sixth through the 10th ... Modesto out-hit the Giants by a 14-12 margin ... Bocock's 12th inning miscue was the only error of the game ... San Francisco Giant Andres Torres (0-for-3) started in center field and played the first five innings in the first game of his rehabilitation assignment ... Copeland (1-for-4, 2B, 2 BB) returned to San Jose from Fresno (AAA) as he also recovers from an injury (left shoulder) ... The Giants are 6-4 on their current 13-game road trip ... Modesto pitchers finished the night with 17 strikeouts.

On Deck: The Giants and Nuts continue their four-game series on Saturday evening with first pitch at John Thurman Field scheduled for 7:05 PM. Scott Barnes (3-1, 4.88 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Brandon Durden (2-1, 3.34 ERA). The game can be heard live on www.sjgiants.com.

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