Giants Offense Shut Down in 4-0 Loss
September 4, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
SAN JOSE, CA - Five Visalia pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout as the Rawhide rolled to a 4-0 victory over the Giants on Sunday afternoon at Municipal Stadium. San Jose was held without a hit after the first inning and struck out 15 times in defeat.
Visalia starter Justin Donatella (6-4) earned the win after tossing five shutout innings with two hits allowed. Donatella walked two and struck out seven. Four Rawhide relievers - Cameron Gann, Kirby Bellow, Nick Baker and Gabriel Moya - each threw one scoreless inning. The quartet combined to strikeout eight Giants hitters.
San Jose's only two hits came in the bottom of the first as Ronnie Jebavy led off with a line drive single to right before Heath Quinn blooped a one-out single into shallow left. Both runners though were stranded as Dylan Davis flied out to center and Miguel Gomez struck out swinging to end the inning.
The Giants managed only three baserunners after the first inning. T.J. Bennett was hit by a pitch to leadoff the bottom of the second, but was erased on a Ty Ross 6-4-3 inning-ending double play. In the fourth, Davis walked with one out before moving to second on a Gomez groundout. However, Bennett then also grounded out to end the threat. Then in the sixth, Quinn drew a two-out walk before the final 10 San Jose hitters of the game were retired.
Cory Taylor started on the mound for the Giants and pitched two scoreless innings. Taylor, who was removed from the game after reaching a predetermined pitch count limit, gave up one hit, walked none and struck out two.
Alex Bostic relieved Taylor to begin the top of the third and quickly set down the side in order in his first inning. Visalia though scratched across a run in the top of the fourth against Bostic to take a 1-0 lead. Sergio Alcantara led off with a double to deep left before taking third on a wild pitch. After Trevor Mitsui walked, Cody Regis lifted a sacrifice fly to center plating Alcantara with the first run of the game.
The score would then remain at 1-0 all the way until the eighth inning. Bostic fanned two in a perfect top of the fifth before striking out the side in the sixth. Tyler Cyr then worked around a couple of baserunners in the seventh before the Rawhide took advantage of a key San Jose error in the eighth. After Cyr had set down the first two batters of the eighth inning, Mitsui and Regis delivered back-to-back singles. Marty Herum then hit a slow bouncer to third that was fielded by Bennett, but a wild throw to first sailed down the right field line. The error allowed both Mitsui and Regis to score for a 3-0 Visalia advantage.
Tyler Baker extended the Rawhide lead to 4-0 when he connected for a two-out solo home run in the top of the ninth off of Pat Young.
Of the 10 straight Giants hitters retired to finish the game, seven went down via the strikeout, including a stretch of six in a row from the sixth through the eighth innings.
Bostic (0-1) was saddled with the loss despite allowing just one run over four effective innings of long relief. The left-hander surrendered two hits, walked two and struck out six.
Notes - * Sunday's loss guaranteed the Giants (68-71) will finish with a sub-.500 overall record for the first time since the 2003 season. * The Rawhide have won two out of the first three games in the series. * Visalia out-hit San Jose 7-4. * The Rawhide won despite going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. * The Giants are 2-9 in their last 11 games overall. * San Jose hitters have struck out 73 times over the first six games of the homestand (1-5 record). * The Giants were shutout for a league-high 11th time this season. * Bostic's six strikeouts matched the most by a San Jose reliever in a game this year.
On Deck: The Giants conclude the regular season on Monday with a Labor Day matinee against the Visalia Rawhide. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 2:00 PM. Jose Reyes (4-6, 5.44 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Rubby De La Rosa is expected to make a rehab start for Visalia. For tickets, call (408) 297-1435 or visit sjgiants.com.
• Discuss this story on the California League message board...
California League Stories from September 4, 2016
- Iriart's Two Blasts Give Ports 4-2 Win - Stockton Ports
- Back-To-Back Jacks Help Rodriguez and Nuts to 4-3 Win - Modesto Nuts
- Giants Offense Shut Down in 4-0 Loss - San Jose Giants
- JetHawks Hold off Sixers, Clinch Second Half Title - Inland Empire 66ers
- Mercedes Plays Nine Positions in 8-3 Ports Win - Stockton Ports
- Blaze Lack Punch, Fall to Ports - Bakersfield Blaze
- French Crowned in 7-3 Win - Modesto Nuts
- Late Rally Falls Short, Giants Lose 2-1 - San Jose Giants
- Lancaster 7, Inland Empire 6 - Lancaster JetHawks
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
