Bednar's 11th Inning Blast Propels Giants to Victory
June 13, 2016 - California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release
MODESTO, CA - Brandon Bednar hit a tiebreaking solo home run in the top of the 11th before Rodolfo Martinez escaped a jam in the bottom of the inning to propel the San Jose Giants to a 2-1 victory over the Modesto Nuts on Sunday afternoon at John Thurman Field. The extra-inning triumph gave the Giants (35-27) a split of the four-game series with Modesto.
Bednar's (2-for-5, HR, RBI) home run was his fourth of the season. Jonah Arenado (2-for-4) also finished with a multi-hit game while Chris Shaw (1-for-4, RBI) drove in San Jose's other run with an RBI single in the top of the fourth.
Sam Coonrod started on the mound for the Giants and worked eight dominant innings with just one run allowed. Coonrod surrendered only five hits, struck out a season-high eight batters and did not issue a walk. His only run given up was unearned.
Pat Young (3-0) was credited with the win out of the San Jose bullpen after tossing scoreless ninth and tenth innings. Martinez, who stranded the potential tying and winning runs in scoring position in the bottom of the 11th, earned his league-leading 17th save of the year.
The majority of Sunday's contest was a pitchers' duel between Coonrod and Nuts starter Yency Almonte. Modesto's only run against Coonrod came in the bottom of the third. With one out, Luis Jean reached on an infield single before moving to second on Omar Carrizales' groundout. Then with Wes Rogers at the plate, Jean stole third and scored on the play when catcher Ty Ross' throw bounced down the left field line for an error. The miscue gave the Nuts a 1-0 lead.
The Giants though immediately answered with a run of their own in the top of the fourth. After Almonte had set down the first nine San Jose hitters of the contest, Ronnie Jebavy led off the top of the fourth with a bloop double down the right field line. Almonte followed with consecutive strikeouts of Bednar and C.J Hinojosa, but Shaw followed with a shallow fly ball into center that dropped in for a hit. The single easily scored Jebavy from second with the tying run.
The Giants' only other baserunner during Almonte's eight innings on the mound came in the top of the seventh when Arenado singled with two outs. The Modesto starter retired 24 out of 27 batters faced during his outing. Almonte yielded just three hits and one run during his eight-inning performance with no walks and eight strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Coonrod breezed through the Nuts lineup for the remainder of his start. After pitching around a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth, Coonrod cruised through 1-2-3 fifth and sixth innings. He had set down 11 straight Modesto batters until Troy Stein doubled to deep left with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Coonrod though came back to retire the next hitter, Max White, on a fly out to left to end the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth with the score still tied 1-1, Forrest Wall led off with a single. Coonrod followed with a strikeout of Jean before Carrizales flied out to left. Wall then stole second, but was stranded there when Rogers grounded out to shortstop.
Nuts all-star closer Jerry Vasto pitched the top of the ninth and struck out the side pitching around a one-out infield single from Bednar. In the bottom of the frame, Young went 3 up and 3 down out of the Giants bullpen to force extra innings.
Troy Neiman relieved Vasto to begin the top of the 10th and promptly allowed a leadoff single to Arenado. Daniel Carbonell then dropped down a sacrifice bunt advancing Arenado to second, but San Jose was unable to bring the run home as Steven Duggar and Ross both grounded out.
Young then worked out of a jam in the bottom of the 10th to keep the game tied. With one out, White singled before stealing second with two down. Young though struck out the next hitter, Jean, to end the inning.
In top of the 11th, Neiman quickly set down the first two hitters of the inning before Bednar stepped to the plate and launched the first pitch of his at-bat over the fence in left center field for a home run. The round-tripper gave the Giants their first lead of the afternoon at 2-1.
Martinez (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 SO) was then summoned from the bullpen to begin the bottom of the 11th. The Giants closer retired Carrizales on a fly out to start the frame, but Rogers followed with a single. After Rogers stole second, Shane Hoelscher drew a walk. Martinez came back to set down Drew Weeks on a fly out to center, but a wild pitch then moved Rogers to third and Hoelscher, the potential winning run, to second. Ferguson was next at the plate and he worked a full-count before ultimately flying out to shallow right ending the game.
Neiman (2-2) was saddled with the loss out of the Nuts bullpen.
Notes:
* The Giants improved to 2-1 in extra-inning games this season.
* Bednar extended his hitting streak to eight games.
* Modesto out-hit San Jose 7-6. The Nuts were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
* Coonrod lowered his ERA to 1.98 - second in the California League. His eight innings pitched on Sunday was also a season-high.
* Martinez is 17-for-18 in save opportunities this year (0.70 ERA).
* The Giants finished the first half with a 20-15 road record.
* The two teams on Sunday combined for 23 strikeouts and just one walk.
* San Jose (35-27) remains six games behind Visalia (41-21) in the first half North Division race. Eight games are left in the half.
On Deck: The Giants open a seven-game homestand on Monday night with the first of three straight contests against the Inland Empire 66ers. First pitch at Municipal Stadium is scheduled for 6:30 PM. Jordan Johnson (5-4, 4.13 ERA) is slated to start on the mound for San Jose while Inland Empire is expected to counter with Jeremy Rhoades (1-7, 6.82 ERA). Tickets can be purchased by calling (408) 297-1435 or by visiting sjgiants.com.
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- Bednar's 11th Inning Blast Propels Giants to Victory - San Jose Giants
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