Giants Complete Sweep of Nuts with 8-4 Victory
July 31, 2014 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
MODESTO - The San Jose Giants knocked out 15 hits - one off of their season-high - en route to an 8-4 victory over the Modesto Nuts on Wednesday evening at John Thurman Field. Five Giants players produced multi-hit games while relievers Ian Gardeck and Stephen Johnson combined on 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to finish the contest. The win for San Jose completed a sweep of the three-game series.
Mitch Delfino (3-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI) and Shawn Payne (3-for-5, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI) had three hits and two RBI's apiece to lead the Giants offensively. Blake Miller (2-for-4, 2 RBI, SB), Ben Turner (2-for-5, RBI) and Matt Pare (2-for-4, 2B) also finished with two hits each.
San Jose trailed in the contest until rallying for three runs in the top of the fifth inning against Nuts starter Ben Alsup. With Modesto ahead by a 3-2 score, Payne led off the fifth with a double to deep right. After Jesus Galindo grounded out, Elliott Blair and Brandon Bednar drew consecutive walks to load the bases. Miller was up next and he lined a single into center plating Payne with the tying run. Delfino then ripped a double down the right field line to score both Blair and Bednar for a 5-3 advantage.
Modesto got one run back in the bottom of the fifth as Giants starter Martin Agosta issued a pair of walks putting runners on first and second with one out. Gardeck then entered from the bullpen and walked Derek Jones to load the bases before Francisco Sosa hit a sacrifice fly to bring Modesto to within 5-4. Gardeck though followed by retiring Dean Espy on a groundout to end the inning and leave the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base.
San Jose added to their lead in the top of the sixth as Pare led off with a double and immediately scored when the next batter, Payne, hammered an RBI triple into right center.
In the top of the seventh, Miller led off with a single, stole second and scored on Brian Ragira's one-out single to make it 7-4.
Meanwhile, Gardeck breezed through a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth before working around a leadoff walk in the seventh. After issuing the free pass, Gardeck registered back-to-back strikeouts of Mike Tauchman and Dave Bergin before Jones flied out to center.
Johnson then needed just eight pitches to toss a perfect bottom of the eighth maintaining the three-run lead. In the top of the ninth, Delfino led off with a single before Pare singled with two outs. Payne then produced his third of the game delivering a two-out RBI single for an 8-4 lead.
Johnson returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth and struck out the first two batters of the inning before allowing a two-out single to Rosell Herrera - Modesto's first hit since the fourth. Johnson then came back and retired Tauchman on a fly out to center to end the game.
Gardeck (1-1) picked-up his first win of the season after working 2 2/3 hitless innings out of the bullpen. He walked two and struck out three. Johnson (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO) pitched the last two innings for his first save.
Alsup (2-11) suffered his league-leading 11th loss for the Nuts. The right-hander was charged with six runs (all earned) on nine hits in six innings with two walks and two strikeouts.
Modesto initially jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs against Agosta in the bottom of the first. With one out, Herrera launched a solo home run to deep right center. Tauchman then walked, stole second and scored when the next batter, Bergin, bounced a single up the middle.
Both teams scored a single run in the second inning. In the top half, Delfino began the frame with a double off the wall in left. After moving to third on Ragira's groundout, Delfino scored when Turner singled up the middle. The Nuts though got the run back in the bottom of the inning as Matt Wessinger drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on Michael Ramirez's sacrifice bunt and scored on Herrera's two-out single.
In the top of the third, Blair singled with one out before Bednar doubled down the right field line to put runners on second and third. Miller then lifted a sacrifice fly to left plating Blair to cut the lead to 3-2.
Agosta recovered to throw scoreless third and fourth innings retiring six out of seven batters to keep the Giants within a run before San Jose took the lead in the top of the fifth.
Notes: The Giants swept their second road series of the season ... San Jose also swept a three-game set in Modesto from July 1-3 ... The Giants finish their seven-game road trip with a 3-4 record ... Bednar (1-for-4, 2B) extended his hitting streak to eight games ... San Jose out-hit Modesto 15-5 ... The Giants were 6-for-22 with runners in scoring position ... Agosta allowed four runs (all earned) on four hits over 4 1/3 innings ... He walked five and struck out five ... Agosta, who was activated from the disabled list before the game, made his first start with the Giants since May 19 ... San Jose won their last seven games at John Thurman Field this season ... Delfino has multi-hits in seven out of his last ten games ... The Giants (23-16) remained two games behind Stockton (25-14) for the top spot in the second half North Division race.
On Deck: The Giants return home to begin a four-game series against the Stockton Ports on Thursday evening at Municipal Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Kendry Flores (4-6, 4.19 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Stockton is expected to counter with Tim Alderson (1-0, 2.70 ERA). Tickets are available and can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com.
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