CalL San Jose Giants

Four-Run Seventh Propels Giants Past Nuts

Published on June 6, 2021 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


The San Jose Giants continued their winning ways on Saturday night with a 6-2 victory over the Modesto Nuts at Excite Ballpark. After Casey Schmitt's game-tying solo homer in the sixth inning, the Giants took control of the contest with a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh. The win was San Jose's (18-11) seventh in their last nine games overall.

Saturday's tilt with the Nuts began in frustrating fashion as the Giants stranded eight runners on base, including five in scoring position, over the first five innings. Marco Luciano gave San Jose a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single, but the Giants would leave the bases loaded in the inning before stranding a runner in scoring position in each of the next three frames.

Meanwhile, Modesto answered with two runs in the top of the second when Alberto Rodriguez and Dariel Gomez produced back-to-back two-out RBI singles off San Jose starter Wil Jensen to make it 2-1. Jensen though settled in over the remainder of his start to keep the Giants within a run. The right-hander worked four straight scoreless innings from the third through the sixth allowing only one hit during the stretch.

San Jose still trailed by a 2-1 margin entering the bottom of the sixth when Schmitt stepped to the plate and crushed the first pitch of the inning over the fence in left for a home run. The round-tripper was Schmitt's fourth of the season.

Ivan Armstrong relieved Jensen to begin the top of the seventh and pitched around a one-out walk to keep the game the tied. The Giants then rallied in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good. Luis Matos led off by drawing a walk. Armani Smith then hit a slow comebacker that saw Nuts reliever Robert Winslow throw wildly to second in an attempt to force out Matos. The error put runners on first and second with none out. Ricardo Genoves followed with a tiebreaking double into the left field corner bringing home Matos for a 3-2 San Jose advantage.

The rally continued as Luciano was up next and he singled sharply through the hole on the left side plating Smith to make it 4-2. After a wild pitch put runners on second and third, Alex Canario bounced out to short for the first out of the inning. Schmitt then, with the Nuts infield still drawn in, hit a grounder to second that was juggled by Justin Lavey. Lavey's hurried throw home was late as Genoves scored on the error with the third run of the inning. Then later in the frame, another wild pitch scored Luciano for a 6-2 cushion.

The bullpen duo of Armstrong and Clay Helvey would then combine to slam the door for the Giants. Armstrong issued a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth, but promptly retired the next three hitters to end the inning. Then in the ninth, Helvey walked back-to-back hitters with one out, but recovered to strikeout the following two Modesto batters sealing the win for San Jose.

GIANTS NOTES

Inside The Record

The Giants are a season-high tying seven games over .500. San Jose also pulled to within one game of Modesto (19-10) and Fresno (19-10) for first place in the North Division standings. The Giants are 7-4 on their current homestand and have now won three of the first five games of their series against the Nuts.

Hitting Leaders

Marco Luciano (2-for-3, 2 RBI) was the only Giants player with a multi-hit game on Saturday. Schmitt's home run traveled 416 feet. Genoves (1-for-2, 2B, RBI) has six hits in 11 at-bats during the series to raise his season batting average to a team-leading .333.

On The Mound

Wil Jensen tossed a season-high six innings with two runs (both earned) and six hits allowed. He walked none and struck out six. Jensen threw 49 of his 67 pitches for strikes. He also retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced. Ivan Armstrong (2 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 1 SO), who was credited with the win, and Clay Helvey (1 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 3 SO) combined to throw three hitless innings of relief.

Roster Move

Pitcher Ty Weber was transferred to Triple-A Sacramento before the game on Saturday.

On Deck

The Giants and Nuts conclude their six-game series on Sunday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 5:00 PM. Kyle Harrison is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

Check out the San Jose Giants Statistics

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California League Stories from June 6, 2021


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