CalL1 San Jose Giants

Geraldo's Ninth-Inning Hit Caps Comeback Win

Published on August 23, 2019 under California League (CalL1)
San Jose Giants News Release


The Giants matched their largest come-from-behind win of the season with a thrilling 6-4 victory over the Modesto Nuts on Thursday night at John Thurman Field. Manuel Geraldo was the hitting star with four RBI's, including a tiebreaking two-out, two-run single in the top of the ninth inning that propelled San Jose to the win. The Giants overcame a 4-0 deficit in the contest to salvage the final game of the series. The victory brings San Jose to within 1 1/2 games of Stockton in the North Division wild card race. The Giants open a pivotal four-game series against the Ports on Friday.

The Nuts built their 4-0 cushion with two runs in the first, one in the second and another tally in the bottom of the fourth before San Jose mounted their comeback. Fabian Pena led off the top of the fifth by reaching on an error before Diego Rincones drilled a one-out double into the left field corner to put runners on second and third. After David Villar struck out, Courtney Hawkins worked a walk to load the bases. Dalton Combs was then hit by a pitch to force home Pena with the first Giants run of the night. Geraldo followed with a sharp single into right center plating both Rincones and Hawkins to bring San Jose within 4-3.

The Giants then tied the game with a single run in the top of the sixth. Back-to-back singles from Shane Matheny and Pena to start the inning put runners on the corners with none out. Sandro Fabian's double play grounder to second then scored Matheny to make it 4-4.

The bullpen duo of Camilo Doval and Frank Rubio would then keep Modesto off the board for the remainder of the game. Doval relieved starter Casey Meisner to begin the bottom of the sixth and struck out four over two perfect innings. Rubio entered to begin the bottom of the eighth and worked around a one-out single to keep the game deadlocked.

San Jose then rallied against Nuts bullpen ace Ray Kerr in the top of the ninth to take their first lead of the evening. With one out, Rincones lined a single into right. A Kerr balk moved Rincones to second before Villar struck out. With first base open, Hawkins was then intentionally walked. Combs was up next and after fouling off multiple two-strike pitches, was plunked to load the bases. Geraldo then came through with one of the Giants' biggest hits of the season as he singled into shallow center on the first pitch of his at-bat. The hit easily scored both Rincones and Hawkins to give San Jose a 6-4 lead.

With a two-run advantage, Rubio returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth and struck out pinch-hitter Jack Larsen to start the inning. Joseph Rosa was then hit by a pitch to bring the tying run to the plate, but Rubio came back with consecutive three-pitch strikeouts of Connor Kopach and rehabbing big leaguer Braden Bishop to end the game.

GIANTS NOTES

Comeback Win

Thursday's victory matched the Giants' largest comeback win of the season. San Jose also overcame a four-run deficit in an 8-4 victory over Modesto on June 25 at Excite Ballpark.

Geraldo's Big Night

Manuel Geraldo finished 2-for-5 with two singles and four RBI's to lead the Giants at the plate. Geraldo is batting .280 in the second half after hitting only .194 in the first half.

Bullpen Excels

Camilo Doval (2 IP, 0 R, 4 SO) and Frank Rubio (2 IP, 0 R, 4 SO) combined to throw four scoreless innings of relief to finish the game. The duo allowed a total of just one hit with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Season Series Win

Thursday's triumph gave the Giants a season series win over Modesto. San Jose finishes the year with a 16-15 record versus the Nuts.

Inside The Box Score

Both teams finished with 10 hits. Diego Rincones (2-for-4, 2B) and Kyle McPherson (2-for-4) also had multi-hit games for the Giants. Casey Meisner allowed four runs (all earned) on nine hits over five innings in his start. Meisner struck out three and did not issue a walk.

Playoff Race

The Giants picked-up a half-game on idle Stockton with Thursday's victory. San Jose (57-71) is 1 1/2 games behind the Ports (58-69) and a half-game back of Modesto (58-71) in the wild card race with 11 to play in the regular season. Eight of the Giants' final 11 games will be played against Stockton.

On Deck

The Giants next embark on their final road series of the season as they begin a four-game set in Stockton on Friday night. First pitch at Banner Island Ballpark is scheduled for 7:10 PM. Tristan Beck is expected to make the start on the mound for San Jose. The entire series can be heard live on sjgiants.com.

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California League Stories from August 23, 2019


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