CalL San Jose Giants

Giants Comeback Falls Short, Lose 12-10 Slugfest

Published on May 5, 2023 under California League (CalL)
San Jose Giants News Release


The San Jose Giants saw their spirited comeback effort fall short in a 12-10 loss to the Modesto Nuts on a soggy Thursday evening at Excite Ballpark. The Giants trailed by a 9-1 margin, but nearly rallied before Modesto held on late to secure the victory. With the defeat, San Jose (14-10) has now dropped two of the first three games in the series to the first-place Nuts.

A one hour and 14 minute rain delay preceded Thursday's game after a wet early-evening at the ballpark. Once the game finally began, Modesto jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second against Giants starting pitcher Gerelmi Maldonado when Brett Rodriguez produced a one-out RBI single. San Jose though would tie the game in the bottom of the third as Matt Higgins doubled with two outs and immediately scored when the next batter, Thomas Gavello, grounded a single into right.

The contest remained tied 1-1 until the Nuts erupted in the top of the fifth. Facing Giants piggyback reliever Nomar Medina, the inning began with back-to-back singles from Edryn Rodriguez and Cole Young. Gabriel Gonzalez then stepped to the plate and launched a three-run home run to left giving Modesto a 4-1 lead. A walk and a single later in the inning put two runners on with two outs when Miguel Perez's pop up was misplayed by first baseman Andrew Kachel. The play was ruled a single as another run scored to make it 5-1. Brett Rodriguez followed with a grounder to third that resulted in an error on Gavello as the fifth run of the top of the fifth came home. Edyrn Rodriguez then collected his second hit of the inning as he doubled home two more before Young's RBI single plated the eighth and final run of the frame as the Nuts built a 9-1 advantage.

San Jose though would get back into the game with a big inning of their own as the Giants sent 10 batters to the plate in a seven-run, seven-hit bottom of the sixth. Consecutive doubles from Kachel and Tanner O'Tremba produced the first run as San Jose pulled within 9-2.

After P.J. Hilson singled, Carter Howell stepped to the plate and singled home O'Tremba with the second run of the inning. Up next was Higgins and he crushed a fly ball to deep right center that sailed over the fence for a three-run home run. The 396-foot blast was Higgins' second homer of the year as the Modesto lead was trimmed to 9-6.

The rally restarted when Gavello was then hit by a pitch before Jose Ramos grounded an RBI double down the left field line to cut the deficit to 9-7.

Zach Morgan then stepped to the plate and doubled to deep right as Ramos raced home to make it a 9-8 game.

Unfortunately, the Giants were unable to get one more clutch hit with the potential tying run in scoring position. Morgan was ultimately stranded at second base in the bottom of the sixth. In the seventh, with the Nuts still ahead by one run, Howell walked with one out before Diego Velasquez was hit by a pitch. Consecutive strikeouts though of Higgins and Gavello followed to end the threat. Then in the bottom of the eighth, Kachel reached on a two-out error before taking second on a wild pitch, but was stranded there when O'Tremba popped out.

Modesto then pushed across three key insurance runs in the top of the ninth to stretch their lead to 12-8. With Dylan Cumming on the mound, two walks put runners on first and second with one out when Milkar Perez delivered an RBI single up the middle. Then with two down, Edryn Rodriguez's third hit of the night - a single into center - scored two more to make it 12-8.

San Jose immediately answered in the bottom of the ninth as Hilson led off with a single and scored when the next batter, Howell, hit a double. Howell then advanced to third on Velasquez's ground out and scored when Higgins hit a sacrifice fly to right as the Nuts lead was trimmed to 12-10. However, the game then ended as Gavello struck out with the potential tying run left in the on-deck circle.

Higgins went 4-for-5 with two singles, a double, a home run and four RBI's to lead the Giants offensively in defeat. He raised his season batting average to .321. Howell (3-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI), Ramos (2-for-5, 2B, RBI) and Hilson (2-for-5) also finished with multi-hit games. San Jose hit six doubles in the contest. Velasquez (0-for-5) saw his hitting streak end at 11 games.

The Giants and Nuts play the fourth game of their series on Friday evening with first pitch at Excite Ballpark set for 7:00 PM. Manuel Mercedes is San Jose's scheduled starting pitcher.

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