CalL1 San Jose Giants

Alderson, Balanced Offense Lead Giants To 9-2 Victory

Published on May 3, 2009 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


Tim Alderson tossed seven effective innings and every Giants starter had at least one hit leading San Jose to a 9-2 victory over the Modesto Nuts on Sunday afternoon in front of 3,463 fans at Municipal Stadium. Alderson earned his first win of the season after holding the Nuts to a pair of runs on five hits during his stint on the mound while Nick Noonan and Conor Gillaspie both collected a pair of RBI's to lead the Giants offensive attack. With the victory, San Jose improves their overall record to 15-9.

Alderson (1-1) matched a career-high in innings pitched as he finished his outing with six strikeouts and no walks. At one point during his start, Alderson retired 13 out of 14 Modesto hitters and allowed only two hits after the second inning.

Noonan (2-for-5, 2 RBI), Gillaspie (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI), Darren Ford (2-for-4, RBI) and Brandon Crawford (2-for-4, RBI) all finished with more than one hit in the contest for San Jose.

Trailing 2-1, the Giants took the lead for good with four runs in the bottom of the third inning against Nuts starting pitcher Cory Riordan. Thomas Neal began the rally with a double into the left field corner before Ford reached base safely on a bunt single. After Crawford walked to load the bases, Noonan stepped to the plate and lined an 0-1 pitch into right field for a single to score both Neal and Ford. Two batters later, Gillaspie hit a soft ground ball over third base that was fielded by Radames Nazario, but the third baseman's throw sailed over the head of Jeffrey Cunningham at first and down the right field line. Gillaspie was credited with a single and an RBI as Crawford scored from third base, but then a second run came home on the play when Noonan sprinted around the bases and scored all the way from first.

San Jose added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Buster Posey singled with one out before Gillaspie drove an RBI double off the fence in straightaway center field. Angel Villalona followed with a ground ball single up the middle to score Gillaspie for a 7-2 advantage.

The Giants plated their final two runs of the afternoon in the bottom of the eighth inning on back-to-back two-out RBI singles from Ford and Crawford.

Alderson struggled in the top of the second inning for San Jose yielding three consecutive hits to start the frame to score a run. The Nuts then had runners at first and third with none out before Alderson struck out Lars Davis. On the strike three pitch, Maikol Gonzalez attempted to steal second base, but was thrown out by Posey. However, once the throw went down to second, Jay Cox, the runner at third, broke for the plate and scored easily with the second run of the inning.

Alderson though quickly recovered allowing only three more hitters to reach base for the remainder of his start. He retired five in a row until Hector Gomez reached on a bad-hop single to shortstop leading off the top of the fourth inning. Alderson then set down eight consecutive batters before Gomez connected for a two-out double in the top of the sixth. Brian Rike followed by reaching on an error, but Alderson struck out the next hitter, Cox, to end the threat. The Giants starter then worked a 1-2-3 top of the seventh inning to end his day.

T.J. Brewer (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO) and Clayton Tanner (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO) pitched perfect eighth and ninth innings respectively to finish the contest.

Notes: The Giants have won two out of the first three games in the series ... Alderson lowered his ERA to 4.15 through five starts this season and has issued just three walks compared to 20 strikeouts over 26 innings pitched ... The seven innings pitched matched the longest start of the year for a San Jose hurler (Craig Clark, May 1 vs. Modesto) ... Noonan extended his hitting streak to seven games with his third-inning single ... The Giants out-hit Modesto by a 13-5 margin ... Riordan (0-3) suffered the loss for the Nuts after surrendering seven runs (five earned) on nine hits over five innings ... Tanner made his first relief appearance of the season, but is expected to immediately return to the starting rotation with his next start scheduled for Wednesday night in Bakersfield.

On Deck: The Giants and Nuts conclude this four-game series on Monday evening with first pitch at Municipal Stadium scheduled for 7:00 PM. Madison Bumgarner (3-0, 1.40 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Modesto is expected to counter with Joey Williamson (3-0, 5.40 ERA). Tickets are available and can be purchased by calling (408)297-1435 or by visiting www.sjgiants.com.

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